


Anima City Mysteries Volume 1

by dragoon009



Category: Original Work
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Gen, Magical Realism, Murder Mystery, Mystery, POV Multiple, POV Third Person Limited, Present Tense, Psychological Drama, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:42:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 42,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26813101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragoon009/pseuds/dragoon009
Summary: A series of events. A series of mysteries. Gillian Gilligan, a young man with no future is simply an assistant to the eccentric detective, Luna Verno. And through her, Gillian meets a variety of people: normal people, abnormal people, who all usually have something to say.On whether the ones with talents or the ones who work hard will succeed.On whether it is important to hold on to your childhood dreams, or let it go for something more realistic.On the divide between individuality and collectivism.As he goes through these questions, a series of mysteries occurs throughout the city, inciting them to act. And as they confront these mysteries, he hopes that he'll become a little bit more human out of this.
Kudos: 10





	1. Case 1: Chapter 1- A discussion over a cup of coffee.

000

A murder mystery has a basic structure. You have the detective, the murder, the suspects, and the clues. The detective must see the murder, investigate the clues, and talk to the suspects for them to get the information they need to apprehend the suspect, all the while explaining to them how they managed to figure out how they did.

A murder mystery this basic structure, and throughout most it’s literary golden age, it worked. Many classic mysteries are born from this tried and tested formula that have been made clear with the likes of Knox’s Decalogue and Van Dine’s Twenty Rules. However, as literature step into the 21st century, the mystery genre went through an evolution with many different authors having their own take on the genre, all the while creating their own rules.

As a result, the genre has become a wild west filled with new ideas spinning in different directions: There are murder mysteries where there is more than one culprit, there are murder mysteries where they think there was a murder but it turns out to be an unfortunate accident, and there are murder mysteries where the solution is made clear but getting there is the problem.

Every one of them breaks the rules of their genre and made them all wonderful pieces of fiction worth dissecting and investigating.

But. Even though Luna wants to dig her teeth into it, she can’t do it right now. And that’s because a rather interesting murder has occurred.

Where the culprit has made himself known, but he refused to tell what his crime is.

001

/1

_“Gill, get to the café this instant!”_

This was the first thing that Gill read when he woke up, and soon as he saw it, he knew that Luna was up to something again, and unfortunately, he has a good guess on what that something was. He opens to the door to the café and enters inside, where the smell of coffee and the ringing of the bell was enough for him to rile up his senses. While Luna didn’t make it clear what café she’s talking about, it’s clear on where she wants to meet him: At her family’s café, The Nutcracker, a small rustic café located one block away from Luna’s school and as result, is often populated by students during their free time. And as for the reason why it’s called ‘The Nutcracker’ well, that’s mostly due to it’s aesthetic, as the interior of the café looks like a Victorian toy store in the middle of winter. It’s rather homey.

He finds a young girl with short brown hair and sickly pale skin by the counter, checking through her phone and sipping a cup of coffee. 

Since that The Nutcracker formally opens at 10:00 AM, she is the only person there. Her father is probably by the door that leads to the kitchen.

She sees him waves at him. “Hey, took you long enough.”

“What do you expect? It’s seven in the morning?” Gill yawns.

“Yes? And? A lot of people are usually awake around this time.”

“Yeah, but not for those who’s class starts in the afternoon.”

“I see.” Luna nods. “So, you would still be asleep around this time. I get it,” she says, as if what she’s learned is valuable information. “Anyway, now that you’re here. Want a brew?”

“Yes, please.” He needs something to snap him out of his grogginess and a cup of coffee might help. Gill takes a seat as Luna pours a cup and slides it to him.

“Thanks.” He sips at the coffee, Luna made a dark blend, Gill can only taste the bitterness of the coffee… and it also seems to have a spicy after taste?

Soon enough, the spicy after taste envelops his entire tongue, as if he has just finished eating a plate of hot wings.

“Something wrong?” Luna asks, seemingly unaffected by the spiciness of her coffee as she takes another sip.

“Wh-what did you put in the coffee?” Gill manages to get some words out.

“The usual: beans, hot water. I decided to add some crushed chili peppers on this pot for a little bit of that morning kick, you know? But…”

“But…?”

“I think I’ve put too little chili peppers on this pot,” Luna says disappointingly. “I don’t feel the spiciness at all.”

“…” Gill is once again left at awe of Luna’s sense of taste, or lack of, so to speak. The girl beside him has numb taste buds, that doesn’t mean she can’t taste food though, it just means that her tasting capabilities is much smaller compared to that of a normal person. Which is usually why when she eats something, it’s usually too sweet, too salty, too bitter, or too spicy. She does this just so she can eat something normally.

That girl who happily drinks that black abomination is Luna Verno, a girl that Gill still hasn’t paid his debts too. As last year, Gill got himself in an incident where he would’ve gotten himself killed if it weren’t for the help of the young lady. Although, he did lose two fingers on his left hand because of that encounter; his pinky finger and his ring finger. He can still use his left hand, it’s just a lot harder to use it then it was back then.

To make short without going into an exposition dump, after that incident, Gill and Luna exchange numbers which spirals into a series of incidents where Luna drags Gill to whatever mysteries she has come across. And throughout the whole thing, she does it with that same excitement and glee as a child would have when they get a new toy.

Gill rubs his mouth, the sting his reaching his lips. “Do you have any milk?”

“Of course, we do.” Luna went over the counter and picks up a carton of milk from the fridge. She tosses to Gill.

He catches the milk and add some it on his cup. After stirring it, he tries to cup once more… It’s not trying to murder his tongue anymore, which is already acceptable for him. “Thanks.”

“Your welcome.” Luna jumps back to her seat.

“So,” Gill starts. “For what reason did you bring me this early in the morning?” He has a pretty good idea on what she’s going to talk about considering what went viral yesterday, but he’ll have to wait and see.

Luna looks at him with an excited glint in her eyes. “Have you seen the news all over the internet? About the incident with Marco Jender?”

Yup. She’s talking about that one. Should’ve expected this, considering her love of mysteries. “Yes, I already know about it. I’ve pretty much had a surface-level understanding about what’s going on.”

“Oh,” Luna sounds disappointed when she hears that. Guess she was hoping that she could make an introduction to this case.

“… But it’s just as I said, I only have a surface-level understanding about what’s going on. I’m sure that you have more information about this than me.” Considering that her older brother is a police officer, she might already know more about this case than me. “So, I wouldn’t mind if you give a run-down about it.”

A smile creeps at her face. “Where do you want to start?”

“From the beginning, if you want to.”

“From the start? Alright then.” Luna clears her throat. “Yesterday, on August 20, 2027. Marco Jender, a mystery novelist, calls the police at 6:50 PM. He told the police that he committed a crime at room 204 at an apartment at the 4TH district. After an hour, the police arrived at the apartment complex at 7:10 PM, where they found Marco Jender sitting in a room where they don’t completely know what happened. Every furniture in the room was toppled over, clothes were strewn all over the room, and some electronics were destroyed. But, despite the place looking like it was hit by a typhoon, those weren’t the things that got the police’s attention. Instead, what got their attention was Marco Jender and a dead body on the ground. The police immediately turned him and that was supposed to be it, he confessed to a crime and he’s going to court for whatever crime he committed… but then he made things more complicated.”

“With that post he made on Twitter, right?” 

Luna snaps her fingers. “Yup. At 7:00 PM, Marco Jender made a post: _‘To everyone that is reading this. I have committed a crime. If anyone is to deduce what crime I did, a hundred thousand animi will be given to the one who managed to solve it.’_ ” Luna sighs. “As you might’ve guessed, it went viral fast, especially when news of his arrest went out.”

“Yeah, and that single post probably reached to thousands of people by now.”

“It has already reached ten thousand since this morning.”

“Geez. This has turned into a bit of a mess.” Gill doesn’t know what that person is trying to do, but if they’re willing to hand themselves over to the police, causing a scene like that, and posting it on the internet, then it has bad news written all over with. Speaking of which, there’s something that Gill wasn’t able to find out last night, wonder if Luna knows about it. “A question, Luna: That apartment room he’s on wasn’t his apartment, right?”

“That’s right. Marco Jender lives at his own home at the 5th district. That apartment room where they found him belongs to his editor, Simon Verizon.”

“And the editor was the victim?”

“Yes.”

“I see.” So far, what Luna knows is almost what Gill learned yesterday, so there wasn’t any misinformation spreading around, but, as always, she has more details on what’s going on. “Do you know anything else?”

She waves her arms. “Nope. That’s all I know so far?”

“Really? So, they don’t know how the victim died? Or what kind of crime did the culprit commit?”

Luna nods. “Sol was quite confused when he saw the body: There are rope marks around his neck which indicates that either he was hanged or strangled, there’s a gash on his throat which means that his throat was slit open with a sharp object, he has a stab wound on his back by a kitchen knife, and there’s a fracture on his head which means that might’ve been bludgeoned with a heavy object.” She sighs. “And considering the crime that the author committed: They’re still not sure what it is. At first, it seems obvious that it would be a murder, but considering his announcement and his willingness to turn himself in, they are considering other options like burglary or something else.”

“Huh, so they’re having a hard time right now? I can see why. But I’m still surprised that your brother tells you this much even though the crime is still fresh.” Gill’s still surprised that her brother bothered to tell her about it in the first place, Gill remember him more as the type of person who keeps everyone in the dark until the time is right.

Luna sips at her coffee. “You’d be surprised by how much info he’s willing to spill when he’s ranting. Especially when it’s something as strangely complicated as this one.”

“So, you’re saying that he got frustrated?”

“Yup.”

Wait. There was something out of place. “You got in contact with your brother?”

“Yeah, just yesterday. He actually bothered to pick up the phone this time, that sneaky bastard.”

“I see.” Gill drinks his coffee, it has already gone cold. he drinks it, regardless.

Luna claps her hands. “So, using what we’ve learned so far, what do think seems off to you? Other than the obvious ones like the fact that they don’t know how he died?”

So, Luna wants his opinion? That’s something he doesn’t hear every day. But, even if he wants to offer his piece on this matter he doesn’t know what to talk about, as every piece of this mystery is confusing to him.

Basically, the culprit committed a reverse whodunit, where the question isn’t who is the culprit, but what the culprit did. And what the culprit did is enough to raise a few eyebrows from Gill. Most noticeably… “You know, I find it strange that Marco Jender calls the police.”

“Oh? That’s what you find strange? Why is that?”

“Well, it’s hard for me to explain it, so I’ll just have to go with it. But if I was the culprit then I wouldn’t try to call the police on myself, I would just report to them that there was be a murder. Because if he really did kill his editor, then he already did a good job hiding the fact that it was he who killed him. He really doesn’t need to do what he did. And besides, reporting to the police lowers your chances of being suspected.

Luna rubs her chin. “Mm. I can see where are you going with this but maybe this is what he wants to do.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s use your version as an example: If the culprit did report to the police that there was a murder then what do you think would happen? Well, once they arrive at the crime scene they would arrest him, as even though he was the one who called the police, he’s still seen as a potential culprit—for murder. And if the police managed to find evidence against him then he’s done for.”

“… That still doesn’t explain why he’s going for what he did.”

“Basically, what he did was he forced the police to REALLY investigate what’s going on. By turning himself in, and making that post on the internet that he committed a ‘crime’ made them second guess what happened as no one can be that confident unless the crime scene was more than meets the eyes. By labelling it as ‘crime’ rather than ‘murder,’ he essentially saved himself.”

“So, you’re saying that he did it to protect himself?” Gill asks.

“Maybe. What I’m saying is just a theory, though. We don’t have enough clues to know what happened.”

“I see. But, even if he did try to hide it, if what he did really was murder then it won’t be long until they find out.”

“Not unless what he did wasn’t murder after all.”

“Ah, so you think that he might’ve done a different crime?” Gill raises his eyebrows.

“No, no. It’s just an idea, so I have no basis for it yet, but I don’t think Marco Jender committed crime—not a serious crime like murder. But the crime he committed must’ve been something minor. Anyway, think about it like this: If Marco Jender found the dead body of his editor in his own room, what do think would happen? Try to imagine this scenario using your version of ‘what you could’ve done’ and what actually happened. Once you go through with it, you can then see why I think what he did was a good move.”

“Hm.” Gill goes through the scenario in his head. “If Marco Jender finds the body and calls the police, then the same thing would happen: They’ll find the body, and arrest Marco Jender for being a potential suspect. The only difference here is what happened afterwards: If they manage to find evidence that points to another person doing it then he’ll be let go, if they find evidence that can be used against him however, then he’ll be the one to end up in jail, and if they don’t find anything at all, then the case will go cold, leaving this story without any resolution. Either way, if Marco Jender didn’t kill his editor, then his fate if he goes through with this path is entirely on the roll of the dice.” Now, it might be strange to believe that Marco Jender might end up in prison even though there is a possibility that he might not be the one who killed his editor but unfortunately, things like this happened, where a convenient ‘evidence’ suddenly shows up just so that put somebody behind bars and close this case.

Luna nods her head in approval, guess he’s on the right track. “What about the other one?”

Now, what about the other scenario? The one that’s happening right now? There’s no need for Gill to think about it so much since the events are still fresh in his memories. And as Gill goes through this scenario with the condition Marco Jender is not the culprit, he can see why Luna thinks that what he did is considered a good move… It’s bullshit though, as there are things that can’t be controlled but the reasoning is there. “Basically, by confidently flaunting that he committed a crime to the police and social media… even going so far as to create a challenge out of it, he separated the connection between him and ‘murder’ to other crimes like burglary or something else. Heck, even doing something as accusing yourself as criminal even though never committed said crime is considered a criminal act. So, even if they never manage to find the culprit, Marco Jender will only be left off with a light sentence compared to what would’ve happened. And if his crime turns out to be just him calling himself the culprit, then it would be hilariously anti-climactic.”

“That’s good. It finally dawned on you. Took you a while.” Luna says impatiently.

“Yeah, I get it now. It’s still stupid, though. There are many things that’ll probably go wrong and he might not be able to change the outcome.” …For some reason, there’s something about that seems off. Better keep it at the back of his mind foe now.

“But it worked,” Luna says. “Everyone’s attention is now on the game that he made. And the good news for him is that they don’t think that the crime he committed murder.”

“I see.” Gill takes another sip of his coffee until it’s empty. “So, do you think that his crime was just him accusing himself?”

“I don’t know.” Luna shrugs. “We don’t have enough evidence to support that theory. For all we know, he might’ve actually done something.”

“Hah,” Gill scoffs. “So, right now, we’re just theorizing on something that might not be true.”

“Don’t say it like that.” Luna claps her hands. “Our theories may be baseless right now, but once more information come into a light then we may be able to create something that can be regarded as a fact.”

Gill sighs when he hears those words. As her entire line of reasoning is based on those principles. She creates theories after theories, using information that she gathered and updating them as time goes on, and removing ones that have become too far-fetch.

He gets off from his seat and fills his mug with water, he doesn’t want to drink that black abomination again. “So, what did you find strange?”

Luna turns her head to him. “It’s my turn?”

“Of course. Since you asked that question, that means there’s something that found strange yourself.”

“Hm, true. There’s something about it that’s bothering me but I’m not sure if I’m confident about it, yet.”

“Well, for now, can you say what it is?”

Luna scratches the back of her head. “To put it simply, I want to know in which order did the victim receive his injuries. And what killed him.

That’s right. They don’t what killed him. “For all we know, all of those injuries might’ve killed him. The victim probably got into a fight and was left for dead when he sustained enough injuries.”

“That might be true, since they did mention that the room the victim in was a mess.” Luna quietly places her mug on the on the table… and then she starts to ruffle through head. “Hah! It’s hard to talk about the victim’s body when you know almost nothing about it…”

“Is it that important that we know in what order did he receive those injuries and what killed him?”

“Of course, it does! If we know how he died, then the rest will be easy to figure out. Once we do, we’ll know what kind of crime did he commit.”

“But we can’t do anything about it since the body is still with the police, most likely. There’s no way that we’ll be able to get inside.”

“We might not be able to go inside but…” A grin is creeping at her face, it’s enough to make Simon uncomfortable, and it also makes him aware by what she’ planning to do.

“Luna, no. We’re not sneaking into a police station to check on a body. We don’t even know where are they keeping it.”

“Who says anything about sneaking into a police station? Why do think we will do something like that?”

“…Personal experiences,” Gill adds. There were times where Luna gets so eager to know something that she’s willing to sneak into other people’s houses and other private properties just to get what she wants. And Gill breathes a sigh of relief when he heard that they’re not planning to raid a police station. “So, if we’re not planning to raid a police station, then how do plan to get info on the body.”

“I’ll just ask my brother, duh.”

Gill slaps himself on the head. He didn’t think about that. Sher could probably strong arm him to get the info she wants… Why Gill didn’t think about that before is beyond him. He probably been with her for so long that he’s also starting to think of crazy schemes.

“I plan on meeting with him this afternoon, in secret, of course. Do you want to come?”

“No, I have class in the afternoon, remember?”

“Boo, I’m sure that they’ll let you skip one class.”

“Sorry, but even if they’ll let me skip one class, I won’t do it. Because I made a new year’s resolution which is to have a perfect attendance.”

“New year’s resolutions are meant to be broken, you know?”

“Then get ready for the first one that isn’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter. Feel free to leave your thoughts on the comments below. expect more chapters in the future.


	2. Case 1: Chapter 2- A discussion over breakfast.

002

/1

After his talk with Luna, Gill exits the café and decides to returns to his apartment. Why? Simply because he didn’t get enough sleep and there is nothing else for him to do until class starts in the afternoon. And as such, he hopes that he can get a few extra hours before class began.

Getting back to the apartment building didn’t take very long, as it is only three blocks away from The Nutcracker. The apartment where he lives (which is often referred to as The Concrete,) is a two-story building that resembles more like a prison than an apartment building. It has a gray hue with windows having bars on them. Why? Just so that there wouldn’t be any ‘unfortunate accidents.’

The Concrete also has a security guard named ‘John’ stationed at the entrance which increases the prison vibe of this place. Gill greets the guard as he enters inside the building. The interior of The Concrete has a different vibe compared to when one looks at it from the outside, as the lobby is decorated with some paintings that Gill can’t recognize, wooden furniture’s that are starting to lose their shine, and an antique chandelier hanging on top. This juxtaposition between cold a cold rectangular exterior and the ‘trying to be old fashioned’ interior surprised Gill the first time he came here, but now, it has become a common sight.

There is a total of twenty rooms for the tenants in The Concrete, ten in the first floors, and ten in the second floor. Since that Gill’s room is room 206, his room is on the second floor. So, he climbs to the second floor and walks through the tacky furniture filled hallway until he arrives at the door of his room. He places his hand on the door knob, and immediately realizes that something is wrong.

The door is unlocked.

And it’s not like he forgot to lock the door or something like that. He clearly remembers locking the door and even twisting the door knob three times just to be sure so how…?

… He checks the doormat under him. Every door in this apartment has a doormat where they can brush of their shoes before they go inside. For some people, this is useful, for others, this is useless, for a certain set of people, they found other uses for it. Like for instance they found it to be a great spot to hide small objects, like a key, for instance.

Gill keeps a spare key under the doormat just in case he accidentally loses it. One can request a spare key by asking the landlord.

…There’s nothing. There is no key under the doormat. He lifts the doormat to see if it just got itself stuck in the fabric, it’s still not there.

So, it means that the intruder entered his room using the spare key under the doormat. The only ones who know that Gill keeps they key under there is The Landlord, her daughter, and the janitor who cleans the hallways. There’s no way that the Landlord would come into his room, same goes for her daughter and the janitor. So, who?

Gill twists the doorknob and slowly opens the door, he hunches his body forward just in case someone plans to attack him.

The door is now wide open, no one attacked him. Instead, there is somebody at the table eating a box of butter biscuits without a care in the world. A young man who’s too small for his age, where’s glasses, and has a cheerful look on his face.

… It’s Alder Envidia, Gill’s friend since high school and one who continues to stay in touch with him even though they go to different schools. Now, Alder knows where Gill lives since he invited him over a few times but Gill swears he never told him about the spare key.

As if his existence is suddenly brought to light, Simon notices Gill’s presence and waves at him. “Good morning. Hope you don’t mind the intrusion.”

“…” Gill says nothing.

“What? Why are you just standing there? Why do you look so nervous? This is you room, right? So, don’t look so tense. Come, sit down, sit down!”

As if being pulled by a magnetic force, Gill nods and sits on the chair across his.

There was a person that once said that one’s room reflect what kind of person they are. Gill doesn’t remember who that person was but they were probably important. Anyway, those words don’t apply here since there is nothing in this room that tells a story. It offers nothing to what kind of person Gillian Gilligan is. As this room only has the standard stuff that one expects a room to have such as a bed, a table, a sink, a book shelf, study desk, and a mini fridge. Gill doesn’t have the time to personalize his room so he just left it as it is.

“Hey, are you thirsty? Do you want something to drink?”

“… No, I’m good.”

“Okay. Then, are you hungry? Did you have breakfast?”

Now that he thinks about it, no, he didn’t. when he woke up, all he did was freshen up and put on some clothes. He didn’t have time to make breakfast for himself.

Upon realizing that he hasn’t eaten, his stomach starts to grumble.

“…I’ll take that as a yes,” Alder says. “Lucky for you, I have a lunch box, or in this case, it’s better to call it a breakfast box.” He pulls a plastic lunch box out of his bag and places it on the table.

Gill pulls it to his side and opens the lunch box, the contents of the lunch box are two slices of toast, a sunny-side up egg, fried sausages, and side of salad… In other words, what Gill has in his hands is essentially a complete breakfast.

“Where do you keep your utensils again?” Alder snaps Gill’s attention him as he is rummaging through his kitchen drawers.

“Um… It’s at the bottom left drawer, the one next to the sink.”

“Got it.” Alder pulls out a knife, fork, and a glass. He then proceeds to fill the cup with water and gives the utensils to him.

“Thanks.” He takes the utensils from Simon and starts to eat his meal. While for him to his knife because he lost two fingers on his left hand. He learned to deal with it.

… It’s delicious. The sausage is spicy, the eggs are soft and runny, the salad is crunchy, and the bread is still warm. It’s clear that Alder recently made this. What for? Is this for him? Why would we do it for him? Did Gill did something recently to warrant such attention?

He feels like he’s forgetting something, though. He doesn’t know what it is, though, but it was at the forefront of his mind until he went inside… and he’s sure it was something do to with a key… wait a minute!

He suddenly remembers. He slams his hands on the table as he stands up. “Wait! How did you get here? Where’s my spare key? And why did John not tell me you were here?”

“Ah.” He has the face of someone who caught stealing a cookie. “I was hoping you’d forget that. But don’t worry, your key is safe.” He pulls out Gill’s spare key out of his pocket. “Next time, please don’t put your spare key under the door mat. I know that you think it’s a safe place to put your spare key but I assure you that it is not. Too many people have already done this way before you have so it’s easy to assume to you hid a key in there.” He tosses the key to Gill. “Try to hide it where no one expects to find it.”

“…I’ll keep that in mind.” Gill puts the key on his pocket. He should check outside later. There should be a good spot where he could hide his key. “Sorry… about freaking out.”

“It’s fine. Anyone would freak out if they saw somebody enter their home uninvited.”

Gill takes a bite of the sausage. “By the way, how come John never told me that you were here. You should know that non-residents of the apartment are supposed to sign in a log book and give a purpose to their visit. For the very diligent John, it’s weird that he didn’t tell me that you were here.”

“That’s because he doesn’t know that I’m here.” Alder takes a bite out of the butter cookie.

“Doesn’t know? How did you do that?”

“Don’t know. But when I was entering the apartment he seems to distracted about something, he looked busy so I didn’t bother him and went my way.”

Ah, he gets it. So, that’s how he got inside. Still, it’s odd how Simon never got John’s attention even though he was distracted about something. Although. “I recommend that you find another way to leave the apartment.”

“Why?” Alder asks with a confused look on his face.

“Because if John finds someone that he doesn’t remember entering that day exit the apartment, he’ll definitely chase after them.”

Alder groans. “He sounds terrifying. You said that he has a perfect memory, right?”

“That’s right. Everything he sees is immediately recorded in his head with one hundred percent accuracy. He’s basically a living security camera.” Gill grins. John’s talent is perfect for the job he has.

Alder sighs. “The more I visit this place the more I realize that everyone here terrifying… in their own right.”

“That may be so,” Gill says. “But they’re good people… I think.”

“If you say so.” Alder shrugs.

Gill continues to eat his meal until he stops halfway through when he feels like he’s being stared at… intensely. He swallows and turns his eyes to Simon, who continues to stare at him. “Is there something wrong? Are you hungry too?” Gill feels bad eating this by himself while Simon eats the butter cookies.”

“No, I’m good. I just had breakfast.”

“Ah… okay.” Just as he continues his meal, Alder stops him.

“I’m surprised that you don’t find it weird that I come into your home uninvited.” He takes another bite of the butter cookies. Just how many is he planning to eat?

“I was surprised at first, but after you explained how you got here then it made sense to me.”

“No, that’s not what I mean.” Alder rubs his temple. “Sure, you know HOW I got inside, but you never asked WHY.”

Ah, he’s right. he never did ask ‘why.’ But that’s because he doesn’t need to know why Alder is here. That’s how much he trusts him. “So, you want me to ask you why you’re here?”

He looks like he wants to say something, but then he gives up and sighs. “You’re a lot more awkward when you’re not doing detective work, you know that?”

“I’m not awkward,” Gill answers immediately. “I just don’t need to ask ‘why’ you’re here.”

“But you need to ask something like that. You can’t just accept whatever’s happening.”

“Ok, ok.” In any case, it’s strange that Alder is insistent that he asks me why he’s here. Normally, he would just tell Gill anyway, but now, it seems that he wants Gill to start that train of discussion. Is this something that he doesn’t want to start? “So, why are you here, Simon? What drives you to come to my room in the morning and sneak inside?”

“In my defense,” Alder starts. “It’s not like I planned to sneak inside your room. It was something that I must do since that you weren’t here when I arrive. And since I wouldn’t want to stay at the lobby for too long I decided to get the keys and make myself at home.”

So, he was here while Gill was at The Nutcracker. Makes sense.

“And as for why am I here. Well, to put it simply.” He points to the lunchbox that Gill’s eating. “I just came to deliver that lunchbox to you.”

“So, you did,” Gill says as he finishes his meal. “I can understand coming here to deliver this but why?”

“That’s because…” Gill notices that Alder is flinching. “I want to be the first one to try it. My cooking, I mean.”

His cooking? So, the lunchbox he’s eating… is something that Simon made himself? Gill appreciates the gesture but. “So, you made this? This is delicious. When did you start learning how to cook?”

“…Last week,” Alder answers.

“Last week, huh? So, you’re already at this level? When I learned how to cook it probably took me a month to get everything down.”

“Probably because you were younger when you started to cook,” Alder answers.

“Yeah, it probably was that. But…”

“But…?”

“I don’t think I should be the first one to try out your cooking. I think, with something like this, your parents should be the first ones to try it.”

It was faint, but he heard Alder scoffed. “Wish I could do something like that, but mom and dad are not here so I can’t do that.” He takes another bite of the butter cookies. “That’s why I gave it to you.”

“I see. Thank you for the meal.”

“You’re welcome… Now, speaking of meals, I have a question for you?” Alder’s voice has gotten a lot more serious.

“What is it?” Gill asks, wondering why is there a change in atmosphere. It almost sounds like he’s being interrogated.

Alder puts his hands together. “If I didn’t come here, what would have for breakfast?”

Oh, dear. So, this is the conversation that he’s starting. Better play it cool. “Uh…” Gill tries to remember what he had on his fridge. “I was thinking of making eggs and toast when I come back home.”

“Eggs and toast, huh? There are eggs in the fridge so that makes sense but where’s the bread?”

Ah, he really is being interrogated. “I was planning on buying some bread on my way home.” Shit, he didn’t think this trough.

“Really? Then, where’s the bread?”

Better push the lie as hard as he can. “I was going to buy some bread, but then I remembered that I left my wallet in my room. So, I went back to get it.”

“I see, I see. That makes sense.” Alder nods his head, as if he understands what Gill is saying. Looks like he’s in the clear. “Then, before I forget: Remember how I let you borrow my High-school student I.D. for that case that you and Luna were doing? You know, the one that takes place two months ago? Can I have that back?”

“Ah, right, that one. I forgot that it’s still with me.” Gill reaches for his left pocket. When it comes to things like money, ID’s, calling cards, and business cards. Gill always puts them in his wall…et. His and freezes once it’s inside the pocket. He realized that he has been bamboozled.

“Hm? What’s wrong? Why did you freeze? Did you find something?” Alder says in an almost mocking tone.

“No, it’s nothing. I’ve just done it instinctively. I thought that my wallet was here.” Gill stands up as he pretends to look for Alder’s I.D. Currently embodying the definition of sunk-cost fallacy.

“But there is a noticeable bulge on your left pocket. Have you bothered to check it there?”

…There is no point in lying. Alder knows he has his wallet with him, Gill is just delaying the inevitable. “Here.” He gives up. Gill pulls out the wallet and gives Simon his I.D.

“Thank you.” Alder takes it. “So, you were lying when you said that you’re going to buy bread on your way home.”

“…Yes.”

“I see. In that case, let me repeat a question: If I didn’t come here what were you going to have for breakfast?”

…Welp. Time to face the music. “That.” Gill points to the butter cookies.

“I see.” Alder examines the butter cookies. “These were going to be your breakfast?”

“…Yes.”

Alder sighs. It looks he’s trying to hold something back. And then, he slams his hands on the table.

The shock was enough to surprise Gill.

“Really?! That’s all you’re have?! Just butter cookies?! Where’s the carbohydrates?! Where’s the protein?! You can’t get anything from it?!”

Yup, yup. This is the kind of reaction that Gill was hoping to avoid. Alder is the type of person who likes to take care of people… because of this, he gets… protective whenever a person he’s taking care of are not properly taking care of themselves, like Gill, for instance.

“You have eggs on the fridge, and there’s still some leftover rice on the rice cooker. You can prepare something simple out of that?”

Unfortunately, he can get **too** protective when it comes to certain people… like Gill, for instance. “I don’t have a big appetite in the morning so I usually go for something small.”

“I can see that but why butter cookies? Even toast-and-butter is a better breakfast than what you’re having.”

“But… butter cookies are simple… and aren’t a hassle.”

Simon rubs his forehead. “Please take better care of yourself, Gill. You’re living alone now. I know that you’re enjoying this freedom that you never had but that doesn’t mean that you should waste away your body while doing so. What will your mothers say once they find out your eating habits?”

“They’ll… get worried.” They’ll get worried. Gill fought hard to get them to agree to him living in an apartment such as this. If they find out what he has been doing then all his efforts to make them agree will all go to waste.

Alder nods. “They will definitely get worried. And because of that, we have to show them that you can take care of yourself.” He looks around the room. “At least you’re doing well in the cleaning department.”

“Hey!”

/2

“Oh, that reminds me. I want to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

After finishing his breakfast, Gill went to the sink to clean the lunchbox. As he’s doing that, Gill asks him a question.

“Where were you this morning? It was strange to find that you left the house so early. I originally planned to until woke up, only to find that you were gone.

“…” Looks like Gill’s morning isn’t going to be over just yet. Considering the topic that they’re going to cover. “I was at The Nutcracker. The café that’s next to Luna’ house. She asked me to come over there

“Hoh? What for?”

“Nothing much. We were talking about that strange case that happened last night.” He tells Simon.

“Ah.” Alder chuckles. “Of course, she would be talking about that.”

“You knew?”

“Everyone knew, even my grandma knows what’s up. That piece of news ended up spreading all over the country. Even some foreign news station caught winds of it because a lot of people were sharing that posts from Twitter.”

“I see.”

“And let me guess,” Alder starts. “The reason why you two were talking about it is because Luna wants to solve this case, right?”

“Was it that obvious?” Alder already knows what kind of person Luna is so it doesn’t come of as much of a surprise.

“Don’t know. But it would be weird if she wasn’t interested in it,” Alder says.

“She is interested in it,” Gill clarifies. “And she probably wants to solve it before they do.”

“They? You mean the police?”

“Yeah.”

“Hah.” Alder leans back on the chair. “Bet she’s not interested in the prize money too, huh?”

“Obviously.” Luna enjoys the process of solving a mystery rather than the reward that she gets afterwards. So, the fact that she would probably get a hundred thousand animi probably doesn’t faze her. She just wants to know how it works. That’s the kind of person she is.

“Well, she better hurry up though since that she has a lot of competition this time.”

“She does?”

He nods. “Yup. In some dedicated forums, there are people playing as the detectives just so they can get that prize money. And guess what? Many of those who are playing detectives right now happen to be fans of Marco Jender’s works.”

“Hm? Oh, that’s right.” Gill places the lunchbox next to the sink to dry off. “I forgot that he was an author.”

“You did? Heh, if Luna heard you say that then she would probably tell you not to forget an important detail like that.”

“She probably would say something like that.”

Alder leans on the table. “Couldn’t blame you, though. Since that Marco Jender is a niche author, so it wouldn’t be surprising if you never heard of him.”

“Even if I never heard of him, I do now. And that goes for a lot of people too.”

“Is that so?” Alder sighs, he seems to be thinking about something. “This kind of feels surreal for me.”

“What do you mean?” Gill asks.

“I mean, how would you feel when someone you know through their work ended up doing something that would get them seen in a negative light. How are you supposed to feel about that?”

“… I don’t know. I like rock music but my engagement only revolves around their works. I don’t know anything about their personal life, their struggles, or what kind people were involved in it. I just listen. So whenever there’s some scandal that a rock band have got themselves into, I don’t seem to be fazed by it.”

“Hm. Must be nice to think like that. I can’t seem to do that.”

“I think it's better that you think like that.” Anyway, there was something that caught his attention. “Do you know the author, Alder?” Gill think he does since Alder is a bit is a bibliophile.

“Yeah. I used to read one of his earlier books, and I’ve been following his works since.”

“That’s so? The only thing I know about him is that he writes mystery novels.”

“He does. And that’s literally the only kind of books he made. Sure there were some romance and some thriller but at their core, they were mystery novels.”

Huh? Gill thinks that Luna would love read to those books…if she hasn’t read them yet. Better ask her next time. “How good are his books? I think they probably are since he has a fan-following from what I’ve seen of his post.”

“Well…” Alder gets himself comfortable. He’s scratching the back of his head as he makes a nervous laugh. “Honestly, many of his early books were meh. They weren’t bad, but they weren’t good either. They were just... average.”

“Really? Then why did you follow his work if they were mediocre?”

“Because there was something in there. I don’t know what it is but Marco Jender had his heart in it when he was writing. I can see all the blood, sweat and tears that he poured on each every one of his early books. And that was enough to make me want to stick around. To see how much he will improve.”

“Oh?” Hearing him say that was enough to get his attention. It almost makes him want to read a novel, for once. “What about his later books? Were they better?”

“Hm.” Gill puts his hand on his cheek. He looks like he’s trying to find the right words to say. “His later books are much better compared to his earlier books: better structure, better progression, better foreshadowing. Overall, their quality is much better than is old works.”

“So, he improved? Good for him, I guess.”

Alder is making a peculiar face. It looks like he wants to say more but he doesn’t know what else to say. “Something wrong?”

“Well, even if his later books are much better, I actually prefer his earlier books.”

“Why is that?” Gill asks.

“Don’t know. But, whenever I read any of his newer books, I have this feeling that there wasn’t any part of his soul in any of his books. It almost feels like another person wrote the book instead of him.”

Gill tries to understand what Simon is getting from this. But all he can get is. “So, you’re saying that he no longer has the passion that he had back then.”

“Yeah… I think so. It’s just that the books that he writes now feels different from what he usually wrote. I don’t know if his mindset has changed or it could be something else.”

“…” Gill doesn’t know what it’s like to lose interest in something. As there was never anything that he was passionate about. Everything that he knows and likes are all things that he does to make himself move. To make sure that he’ll be functioning human being. And as such, he doesn’t truly understand what Alder meant he say that his soul isn’t there. He doesn’t understand at all. “By the way, do you know anything about his editor? Simon Verizon?

“Mm? Kind of, all I know about him is that Marco Jender likes to talk about him on the forums.”

“So, they’re close?”

“Probably. He has been with Marco Jender since the start of his career. Don’t know if those two are friends. For all we know, they might only see themselves as co-workers.”

“I see.” So, Simon Verizon has been with Marco Jender since the start of his career. If that’s the case, then it wouldn’t be strange if he knows where his editor lives. Now, the problem that presents itself this time is ‘What kind of relationship those two had?’ If their relationship is one might consider positive, then it wouldn’t make sense for him to kill his editor… and that’s if he did it in the first place. Now, if their relationship falls on the negative side then it would be a little different. If Gill can figure out what it was in the first place.

“…”

“…”

“…?”

Wait a minute. Gill realizes something important. Something that he should’ve told Luna about.

What was Marco Jender doing in Simon Verizon’s apartment?

Well, considering that he is an author and the other one is an editor, one would say that he just wants to deliver some drafts to his editor but who does that anymore? It’s 2027, anyone with an internet connection can just send their draft via email, so there’s no need for him to do something like that. It must be something else.

Maybe he was just visiting his editor. If those two have a pretty good relationship then what he’s doing may be the equivalent of having a friendly visit. But Gill has no proof of this. So, whatever he’s thinking is null and void.

If so, then it must be something else. Because that would be too convenient if Marco Jender visited his editor on the day of his death.

“Uh, Gill, you’re doing it again.”

What? “What?” Gill snaps out of his thoughts. He didn’t even realize he was doing that until Simon points it out.

“You were doing that again. You know, when you look up in ceiling? You were doing it again.”

“Huh? Guess I was.”

“Are you still thinking about what happened?”

“Yeah.”

“Hm.” Alder stands up from his seat. “You know, while I don’t mind seeing you solving cases with Luna, I have to ask you something: What are you getting out of this? What benefits do you get from solving this case? We already know what what’s Luna deal is, she wants to solve this case because it’s interesting. But what about you?”

That question is easy. “I just want to help her solve this case. That’s all.”

“I know you want to help her, but what are you getting out of this?”

“Probably nothing.” If Gill must be honest, he is absolutely getting nothing in solving this case. He has no relation to both the author, and the editor, so there are no emotional ties to this case. If he looks at it from the financial side, then it’s quite flimsy, as he is unsure if the author would keep such a grandiose promise. So, in other words, the only reason why he bothers to get himself involved in this is all because Luna wants his help. And he feels like there is something to gain for him if he keeps staying by her side.

“Probably nothing… geez.” Alder rubs his forehead. “I know that you want to help her because you feel like you haven’t fully owed your debt to her but isn’t what you’re doing enough? It has already been a year now. Don’t you think you’ve paid her enough already?”

“…” There is more to it than just that. “Do you remember what I said a year ago?”

“Huh?” Alder looks confused. Did he forget already? That was quick. “A year ago. When are you referring to?”

“After that incident, you know, when one of our classmates died at that birthday party? When we were talking at the park?” Gill still remembers the incident like it was yesterday. Because it was the event where he met Luna, because it’s when he lost his fingers, because it was the event where he saw how much people are willing to do for love, and because it was the event that made him accept how inhuman he is compared to everyone else.

Alder’s expression immediately went sour. Guess he remembered what they were talking about. “Right. So that’s what you were going on about. So, what you’re trying to say is that you still haven’t found what you’re looking for?”

“Yes.”

“And you still believe that you’ll find it if continue to stay by Luna’s side?”

“Yes.”

“I see…” His face looks disappointed. “Well, in that case, you wouldn’t mind if I help you, right?” He says with a smile.

“Help me with what?”

“With this case. There are two things that has been bothering me.”

“And what would that be?”

“The first thing is that Marco Jender visited his editor in the evening.”

“Is that something worth bothering about?”

“I don’t know. But for those who know about Marco Jender, he makes it very apparent that he doesn’t like to do any work during the night. Even something like delivering drafts is something that he won’t do. It has reached to the point where his fans joke about it.”

“Hm. Then maybe yesterday was just an outlier? Maybe he just really need to visit his editor that day.”

“Maybe. I might just be overthinking it.”

“Maybe. So, what’s the other thing that has been bothering you?”

“You’ve seen his post, right? About challenging anyone to figure out what his crime is and get a hundred thousand animi?” Alder explains.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“I’ve been wondering how the hell does he plan to do that? Does he plan to mail them the money to their address? Do they have to visit him while he’s on prison for him to give them money, or is it something else? Because he never made it clear on how he is going to give the money. Some people noticed that glaring issue and wrote it off as a scam. I would like to think that but I can’t. There must be a reason why he bothered posting that.”

“…Me and Luna already talked about it back at The Nutcracker. Luna theorized that the challenge might just be a scam, as it’s true purpose is just be a way for him to force them to double think this whole situation.”

“What do you mean?”

“Basically, Luna said that Marco Jender made that post and turned himself in, just so that he won’t be immediately charged for murder. And that, the police will properly inspect the scene of the crime.” Gill summarizes it to the best of his ability.

Alder looks like he’s thinking, then, he looks at Gill. “That’s sounds too Machiavellian. As in, he must know exactly how would they think before he would do something like that. It sounds like something that’s too easy to screw up. I can’t believe it.

“We know. Luna said that it’s just a theory.”

“In other words, you guys have no idea if the challenge is real or not, and the reason why he made that post?”

“…Yeah.”

“In that case. All we must do is look at it from a different angle. Luna was looking through this from the perspective of a master criminal. That shouldn’t be the case. You guys should’ve looked at it from the perspective of a normal human.”

“A normal human?”

“Imagine this from the eyes of Marco Jender. He went to his editor’s room one evening to deliver some drafts for some next book that they’re working on, an when they went inside they are greeted to the corpse of the one person who has been with them since the beginning. Now then, without any schemes or tricks. What reason would Marco Jender make that post for their editor?” 

“Hm.” Gill tries to think of a reason why Marco Jender made that post. It made him remember what Luna told him back at The Nutcracker, that the post was just to throw the police off, so that they’ll doubt what they’re seeing. But Gill is not sure. He’s almost sure that it is not what Marco Jender wants to do when he made post.

And so, Gill tries to imagine himself in the shoes of Marco Jender. What would he do when he steps inside the room of his editor, only to find his beaten body on the ground? What would he do? Well, first, he would call the police, but Marco Jender called the police on himself, saying that he committed a crime. Why did he do that? Gill doesn’t know, but that’s not what he’s focusing on for now. He wants to know the reasoning behind him making that post. It can’t just be him wanting to challenge everyone to a game of logic.

“Mm. If he is not the culprit, then maybe he plans to use the people of the internet to find the culprit for him?” Gill stars

“That might work, since there were some cold cases the police dropped in the past that were solved by the people of internet. But where does that go from there? Will it be the people to deliver justice unto the murderer, or would it be the police? And if they did find the murder but the case went cold, would the police even bother with the investigation?”

“I don’t know. But since that Marco Jender is a mystery author then he should be aware of the cause and effect of what’s it going to do, right? So, that might not be it.”

“Then, maybe there was no murder at all, and everything that happened is just an elaborate advertisement for his new book.” Alder starts

“Something like that might be true since there have been some crazy things that happen in the past that turns out to be advertisements. But, isn’t that a bit too much to advertise a book? And I’m not sure if it’s even possible to have the police involve in advertising books so that might not be it, either.”

“So, then maybe it’s this…”

“No, maybe it’s because…”

“I think it’s…”

“…”

They try to imagine different scenarios. He tries to imagine at least one viable reason why Marco Jender made that post, but nothing sticks out and makes sense.

As far he can tell, all he did was make a lot of people aware that his editor had died.

…Wait. Gill tries to process what he was thinking just now. What he’s thinking sounds stupid, but, in a way, it makes a little bit more sense…

“So that’s why he did it…” Gill says under his breath.

“What? Did you realize something?”

“I think I know why Marco Jender made that post.”

“Hm?” Alder looks interested. “Then, you know what it is?”

“The reason why he made that post, and this whole game in general, is so that he can get as many people as possible to know that there was a murder there. There was no game at all. He was just using it as mask so that everyone can spread it around. That’s why he didn’t bother to make it specific.”

“Oh?” Alder raises his eyebrows. “If that’s the case then, don’t you think that it would be easier for him to just tell his fans and friends to spread the news around?”

“Even if he did, there is a limit to how much it will spread, I think,” Gill says. “They will get the word out. But the more it spreads, the thinner it goes, as sooner or later it would fall on the ears of those who simply don’t care. The only way for it to spread as it is if there is something attached to it, like a controversy, or a scandal. People can be like that sometimes. They won’t bother with something unless it either goes along with their world view or it directly affects their personal life.”

“And reasoning is why he disguised it as a game?”

He nods. “At least if it’s a game there’s some incentives to it, no matter how disturbing the subject matter is, and even if they’re not an active participant of it, there’s still a chance that they will share it, just because of how different it is compared to everything else. After all, an event like this is rare, after all.”

“I see…” Alder seems to be thinking about clearly. “So, in other words, there is no game, no ten thousand animi reward, and he did it just he can get as many as people as possible to know that there was a murder?”

“Yes.”

“Then, why?”

“I don’t know. But it does confirm one thing.”

“What?”

“That if what I’m saying is true, then it means that Marco Jender wasn’t the one who killed Simon Verizon.” Luna came to the same conclusion too but the context is different. Speaking of Luna.

He pulls out his smartphone and starts to type on his keyboard. He’s not sure if what they’re saying will be helpful or not but he’ll do it anyway. After all, she did say that every theory is a possibility.

“Sending your findings to Luna?” Simon asks.

“Yeah,” Gill replies. Keeping his eyes on his phone.

“You know, with how much you can do by yourself. Can’t you just solve this without Luna?”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m her assistant, and in the end, she’ll ultimately be the one who’ll find the truth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Please leave some comments and kudos if you enjoy this work


	3. Case 1: Chapter 3- A discussion in the green room

003

/1

_This should be the spot, right?_

Luna’s not sure. Her brother sent her a detailed map on where they should meet but she isn’t sure that this is it.

After all, the place that he told her to meet up at looks like a dump. it’s a shabby, one story building with moist, dirty concrete, piles of trashes sitting on laying on the side, cracked windows, and a neon sign that looks like it barely even works.

Judging by the how damaged this building looks, it is safe to say that it’s probably here since 2009, or it might be older then that, and they never bothered to keep this place clean. She tries to read what the neon sign says. It reads: Brunch n’ Drunk.

“…”

Since it has the words ‘brunch’ and ‘drunk’ on it, it’s likely that they serve food and alcohol. And the places that Luna knows that serve those two things are called resto-bars, or pubs, or bistros.

Now that she has confirmed that the building is a resto-bar, another question pops up in her head: How does he expect her to enter the building?

Despite being 18 years old, Luna is still a Senior year student, which means that in certain ways, she’s considered a minor. And thus, she’ll be kicked out without hesitation.

She sighs. Well, there’s no use is standing around and contemplating on the morality of a high school student entering a bar during the afternoon. She skipped school today and has done some questionable things in the past so doing something like this no big deal.

She walks to the entrance and knock on the door. A few seconds later, a pair of eyes peek out of the small opening on the door.

“Name?” The man with a hoarse voice says from behind the door.

“Little Rabbit,” Luna answers. Along with a detailed map on where they should meet, Sol also gave her instructions on what she should do when gets there. Which basically boils down to proving that you are member or, at least, proving that you’re related to a member.

“Little Rabbit, huh? They told me that someone with that name would be comin.” He shuts the opening. Then, the door opens. “Come in.” The man says. Despite his rather hoarse voice, the man behind the door looks well-mannered, he has his back straitened, and his chest out. “He’s in the green room. You won’t miss it… it has a green door.”

“Right…” Luna nods and enters the bar. Its interior looks very much like the others bars that one would find when they roam the city at night. Which is to say that it’s small, dimly lit, and have some tacky paintings that severely clash with the design of this place.

_Green room…?_

Luna observes her surroundings. To her left are tables for the customers. The tables are empty. To right is a counter where they serve drinks. A bartender is standing by the counter wiping the glasses. And to her front, is a hallway that looks like it goes deeper to the bar. She still hasn’t seen a green door. Maybe it’s further inside?

“…If you’re looking for the green room,” the bartender suddenly speaks up. “All you need to do is to walk straight. You’ll find it eventually.” After that, the bartender went back to wiping the glasses.

“Walk straight, huh?” So, it’s somewhere in that hallway. What the hell, Sol? Why did you choose such a shabby place for their meeting?

She decides to deal with it and walks further inside. She keeps walking until she comes across what is essentially a dead-end.

Well, it’s not really a dead-end.

Since there is a door in front of her… seven to be exact. Three to the left, three to the right, and a single door at the end of the hallway. Each one of them follows the color of the rainbow: Red, blue, yellow, orange, purple, green, and indigo.

“…”

How tacky. It’s so colorful that it makes her sick. She twists the doorknob of the green door and enters the green room.

“…Ugh.” Oh dear. It’s green. Everything in this room is green. From the chairs, to the table, to the walls, and even the floor. It’s all green. What kind of person would design their rooms like this? Some color weirdo?

“Took you a while.” Somebody’s slouching at one of the tacky green sofas. A tired looking young man with puffy unkept hair wearing a black hoodie. It’s her older brother, Sol Verno, also known in certain places as Black Rabbit. Who, despite always looking like a tired mess devoid of caffeine, always seems to find a way to finish whatever he has in mind. A true trooper, her dad would say.

“Of course, I’ll take a while,” Luna says as she takes seat at one of the tacky sofas. “I didn’t even know that there was a place like this around here.”

“Well, yeah. Considering how old this place is it’s no surprise that some wouldn’t bother to notice it.”

“Mm. So, why here? And the staff of this place seems to know you.” Luna asks.

“You noticed?”

“Yeah. While they don’t say it, they act very casually about this.”

“Haha. I can never dodge you, huh?” Sol rubs his chin. “Simply put, me and the manager owe each other a favor. And I used that favor to get us this room.”

“I see. Then, what kind of room is this, anyway?”

“A private room,” Sol answers. “It’s for customers who want some privacy. You like it?”

“It’s tacky. Why is everything in here green?”

“The manager likes to follow patterns—no matter how off putting those patterns are.”

“Geez. Did anyone tell that manager to change it? Having everything in one color looks very uncomfortable.” Luna winces.

“Hey. At least I didn’t take the red room.” Sol shrugs.

Ugh. After looking at the green room, Luna doesn’t want to think what the red room looks like. Just thinking about what it looks like will probably hurt her eyes.

Well, enough talking about rooms. Time to get to business. “Did you get what I asked?”

“Before that,” Sol interjects. “Want to get something to drink? My treat.”

“No, I’m good. I brought my own drink.” Luna pulls something out of her bag. It is a canister filled with a special concoction that she made this morning.

Sol looks at the canister with utmost suspicion. “What is that?”

“Spiced milk,” she answers casually.

“Spiced…milk?” There is a very clear look of surprise on his face.

“Yup. Milk spiced with cinnamon, paprika, and chili powder.” Luna was satisfied on how it turned out.

“I see… sounds delicious.”

“It is. Want to give it a shot?” She offers it to him.

Sol waves his hand. “No, no, no. I’m good.” He scans the menu that was on the table. He looks scared. “I think I’ll have cola instead.” He stands up and goes to the phone on the wall. He picks up the receiver. “Hello, yes it’s me. I’ll have a can of coke, please… ok, thanks.” He puts the phone back and returns to his seat.

“I think spiced milk is much healthier than coke,” she tells Sol.

“It probably is. But I rather risk damaging my kidneys than my tongue.”

“You’re lose.” She takes a swing of her concoction. “Still, despite how tacky this place is, they have some modern stuff.”

“Modern by our standards, antique in many.” Sol stretches his arms.

“Guess so. Though I still have to give them a little bit of credit for at least trying to offer some convenience to their customers.”

“That’s so?” Sol rummages through his bag that was under the table and pulls out a file from it. “Anyway, I found what you’re looking for.” Sol tosses it to the table.

“Thanks.” Luna picks up the file and reads through it. She hopes that she can get what she’ looking for.

“This better be worth you skipping your classes,” Sol says with a sigh.

“It will. For me, at least.” Luna continues reading the file. Hoping to digest as much information as she can. “So, did anything change when you check at the police station?”

“Nothing much has changed. Marco Jender is still incarcerated and the police are still reviewing the case.” Sol taps his foot. “Although, judging from how much they’ve found already, it won’t take long before everything becomes clear.”

“Mm.” Luna nods. “So, how did you do it? Who did you smuggle this from this time?”

Sol puts a finger on his lips. “As if I’ll you my tricks of the trade. But if I have to be a little bit prideful, let’s just say that doesn’t take long for one them to spill the beans when I wave a little bit of money.”

“So, you were just using your usual tricks?”

“Yup!” Sol says proudly.

Luna doesn’t think that’s something to be proud of, though. Sooner or later, it might bite him in the ass.

Sol Verno’s occupation isn’t something that Luna and her dad aren’t willing to talk about. Not because his job is embarrassing, it’s mostly because his job is quite…dangerous. To put it simply, Sol works as an information broker, at least, that’s what he calls himself. While Luna is kept in the dark on the full details of his job, she can deduce that his job is like one.

Now, what is an information broker? To put it in the simplest way possible, information brokers are a group of people who collect and gather information of people, and sell this information to many different organizations, most notably the advertising agencies.

And while Sol may be classified as an information broker, unfortunately, gathering information is only where their similarities end. As not only Sol is independent but he gathers information and sells them to his clients at their appropriate value. He also trades and barters information with money and information to his clients and other people like him, which creates a system where Sol can get his information from.

Normally, people like Sol are usually allied with powerful political dynasties, crime families, or organizations. As they can get benefits such as protection from those who may be after their life. But Sol works solo, which puts him in a very dangerous spot. As not only he’s independent, but he has a smorgasbord of information on both Anima city’s underworld, and the higher-ups.

Which is one the reasons why Sol decided to live far away from them, so that they won’t get caught in this mess. 

As for why it was so easy for him get information regarding on the corpse of Simon Verizon? Luna guesses that he probably bribed a police officer to give him a photocopied autopsy report of Simon Verizon. While something like that sounds unbelievable, it’s unfortunately very common. Especially in Anima city, where those who have money can get away with anything.

There’s a knock on the door. It’s probably Sol’s order.

“Come in,” he says.

The door opens and a young lady enters the room. She wears a standard suit, long black hair tied to a ponytail, and… long stiches that goes across her mouth, giving the illusion that she has a much larger mouth.

The young lady quietly places a glass with ice and a can of cola then she makes her leave. Closing the door as she does so.

Luna starts to notice how strange looking the employees of this bar is. “Can you trust these guys? She asks. “They won’t sell you out or anything like that?”

“Those guys? They won’t. We have a mutual relationship, after all.”

“A mutual relationship?”

“Yup. I give them customers, and they give me all of the information recorded in the private rooms.” Sol pours his cola to the glass.

So, they’re a part of Sol’s network too, huh? Wait. “Did you just say that everything is recorded in the private rooms?”

“Not this one.” Sol assures her. “But normally, yes they do. Every single private room here are outfitted with hidden microphones that record everything they said.”

“…While I find that really clever doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of the private rooms?”

“Yeah. but some shady individuals might like to use those private rooms if you know what I’m saying?”

“Ah.” She gets it. Considering the nature of these rooms, anyone who wants to have a secret meeting might take advantage of this. And since those meetings are secret in the first place, Sol might want to know about that. Sneaky. That’s sneaky. “I get what you’re trying to do. But.”

“But?”

“You guys are going to be in very deep shit if someone managed to find it.”

“Maybe. But luckily, no one has found it yet… mostly because it has been used for… other things.”

For some reason, when Sol said ‘other things’ it makes her nervous. “What do you mean?”

“Most of the time. The private rooms are used by drunk, horny teenagers who wants to get down and dirty.”

“…”

“And I think I remember that the sofa you’re sitting on has been used… for some kinky stuff.”

“…”

“…”

“AAAAAGGGHHHHHH!”

/2

An hour has passed since then. Thirty minutes of Luna trying to kick Sol, and thirty minutes of Luna summarizing Simon Verizon’s autopsy report. There were quite a few surprises in that report. One of the most surprising pieces of information that she managed to find was…

“So, Simon Verizon died at around 6:00 AM, right?” She asks Sol.

“That’s what it said on the autopsy report,” Sol replies.

By judging by how old each of his injuries are, they are able to deduce what killed him. And the oldest one that they managed to find is the trauma around the victim’s neck. Which might mean that he died via strangulation. Which also means that it’s very possible that Marco Jender wasn’t the one who killed Simon Verizon.

While Luna finds it great that they know what killed him, it doesn’t help that there are still some things that are very off. Like for instance…

“Simon Verizon got all of his other wounds two hours after death, huh?”

“Yup.”

Just like with the trauma around his neck, they were able to know when did he receive each of his injuries, and the strange part is that he got all of them after he died.

From what they gathered it’s possible that Simon Verizon had been stabbed in the back with that knife two hours after his death, he got that large dent on his head a few minutes after, and he probably got that slit on his throat after that. Which means that the order of his injuries based on her deduction and the autopsy report, the timeline probably goes like this.

6:00 AM-Simon Verizon died via strangulation.

///

8:10 AM-Simon Verizon was stabbed in the back after his death.

8:25 AM-Simon Verizon was bludgeoned with a heavy object after his death.

8:30 AM-Simon Verizon had his throat slit after his death.

///

6:45 PM-Marco Jender found the corpse of Simon Verizon around that time.

“…” Hm. Even with this information, it doesn’t provide anything substantial. She knows the timeline of his death, but it doesn’t tell her what crime did Marco Jender commit, or what really happened at that room. In fact, it just made things more complicated.

Not only that, but two new questions have been brought up—

“Why did the victim get those injuries after death, why did it happen after two hours,” Sol suddenly says.

“…”

“That’s what you were thinking, right?” Sol smiles. “I kind of guess that’s what in your head when you were summarizing the autopsy report.”

“Yeah…”

“So? What do you make of it? About those two oddities.”

Luna gives herself a minute to form something concrete. “Right. Let start with this one first: Why did the victim get those injuries after his death?”

Sol raises his hands. “It might be because the murderer wants to make the cause of their death much harder to find.”

“That might be the case. In fact, that’s pretty much the only reason I can think of right now. I don’t see anything else that points to a different direction.” She rubs her head. “Then, next question: Why does the murderer want to hide the cause of death?”

“Is it that important?” Sol asks.

“Don’t know. But we should examine every corner if possible.”

“Hm.” Sol takes a sip of his cola. “The only reason I can think why they would do something like that is just so that culprit would have enough time to escape.”

“You mean, because of how long it would probably take for them to figure out what happened to him?”

“Yeah. But considering that Simon Verizon died yesterday morning, and with no clues pointing to any other culprits, it might be possible they have already faded into the background. Amongst all the other residents of Anima City.”

Luna finds those words frustrating. Even if they managed to figure out what kind of crime Marco Jender committed, they won’t be able to apprehend the culprit. And knowing that they’re probably roaming the city waiting for the next person to kill leaves a bad taste in her mouth.

As once a person takes a life. There is no going back. It’s impossible to live a clean life ever again.

“Still, we have to at least try.” Luna can’t let their efforts go to waste. “Now, time for the hard part: Why did the victim get those wounds after two hours? And what happened during those two hours.”

“I have no thoughts on that matter,” Sol says curtly.

“Ah.” That sucks. The only possible reason that Luna could think of on why the culprit would something like is… “Guess it’s up to me, huh? Well… I think that the culprit was looking for something. Remember how his room is a mess? Don’t you think it’s because of that?”

“So, you’re saying that the culprit killed the victim, and started to search through their stuff, then after that, in order to hide their tracks, they inflicted more wounds on victim and their escape. Is that right?”

“That’s the gist of it, yes.”

“Do have any idea on what that stolen object is?”

“I don’t. I thought that you might know.”

“As far as I know, the victim’s wallet and savings are intact. Therefore, nothing valuable was stolen. And besides, what can they steal from an editor?”

“Maybe it wasn’t something like money. Maybe it was something important to either the culprit or the victim, like a trinket, or doll.”

“Do you have any proof that it might the case?”

“No, I don’t.” Luna leans back on the sofa. She notices that Sol is tapping his foot. He’s thinking about something. “What? You have something in mind?”

“Do you think that the culprit might have a grudge against Simon Verizon?” Sol asks.

“And that’s why you think he had all those injuries? Because the victim was pissed? I could accept that, but he got those injuries two hours after death. I don’t think someone can hold their anger for that long.”

“I don’t know about you. But I’ve seen people hold their anger for **years**.”

“That's not what I mean.” She corrects him. “I meant that what was the victim doing during that blank two hours? If the culprit did it because of a grudge then it would make sense for them to do it when they were killing them? Why the wait?”

“Maybe the culprit waited for two hours just so the case wouldn’t look like a frustrated homicide?”

“I think it might be. Let’s keep that in mind.”

Luna takes a swing of her spiced milk. She has this feeling that they are close to the truth. All she needs is something that ties it all together. And she feels like there is something within that two hours that can provide her a clue.

So, she starts thinking. She starts thinking of multiple scenarios with the information that was presented to her. “Do you mind If offer some theories?”

“Go ahead.”

“I believe that the reason why there was a delay in two hours was because the culprit was surprised. I created this theory on the basis that it was a frustrated murder. The culprit, in a fit of rage, strangled on the victim from behind. They didn’t mean to kill him, but when they come to their senses, it was already too late. The deed was done. It might be possible that the two hours was spent on culprit deciding what to do. Since they didn’t plan this. They were struggling whether they should report themselves to the police, or that they should run away. There’s also the possible that the culprit thought of dumping the body somewhere in the city but since they can’t find anything big enough for the body they stopped. So, in the end, the culprit decided to inflict more wounds on the corpse. And after they’re done they ran away.” Luna takes a deep breath after presenting it.

“Hm. There are few things wrong with it. Like for instance, why couldn’t the culprit just hide the body in a concealed area like the bathroom or the closet? If they take a time making those wounds they might as well bother to hide it.”

“It’s possible that culprit did just that. But because a considerable amount of time has passed the body has developed a stench. And when Marco Jender arrived, the stench was strong for anyone to notice, thus, turning his efforts to void.”

“I see. Then, what about this one: If it was a frustrated murder and they didn’t mean to kill him, then why are there no finger prints on the rope? If there are, it makes sense. But since it doesn’t have finger prints then it means that the murder was per-mediated.”

“… I have nothing to say to that. You are correct.” She claps her hands. “Well then, I’ll offer another theory: It might be possible that Marco Jender didn’t die from the strangulation. When the murderer strangled him and left him on the ground, Simon Verizon was still alive. Barely breathing, but alive. Then after two hours, Simon Verizon managed to have the strength to get back up. However, the murder was still in the apartment, and when they saw Simon Verizon standing up they attacked him to make sure that he’s finally dead.” Luna takes another deep breath.

“…While I applaud your imagination there still things wrong with it.”

“Like?”

“Like for instance, what the hell was the murderer doing there for two hours?”

“Considering the state of the room. I can guess that they were looking for something. Whatever that something was, it was enough to keep them busy for two hours.”

“That reasoning was flimsy at best.” Sol rubs his forehead. “Then, what about this one: It’s impossible for Marco Jender to survive his injury.”

“…And why is that?”

“If you read the full details of his autopsy report then you can see why: Whoever is it that killed Simon Verizon is very strong. That strangulation was enough to not only damage his External Jugular Veins but decimated his Thyroid Cartilage and damage his Stern hyoid muscle.

“I see. No one could’ve survived that.”

Luna went back to thinking again. trying to make sense his death and the two-hour gap that leads to his postmortem injuries.

She tries to imagine herself as that strong murderer with a rope. What would she do? Well, she will strangle him, then, when she’s done. She’ll carry the body and hide it somewhere like the closet or the bathroom. A place where it’ll take a while for someone to find him. That’s it. That’s all she’ll do. No need to wait for two hours to do it. It doesn’t make sense. There is nothing a killer could benefit from doing something like that.

Unless.

Unless.

Unless.

The two-hour gap.

The strangulation.

The injuries.

Marco Jender and Simon Verizon’s relationship.

That post that he made.

Marco Jender’s arrest.

Marco Jender’s morning habit.

And finally, Gill’s reasoning on why Marco Jender made that post.

“Ah, so that’s how it is.” It finally makes sense. Why it’s all like this.

“Hm. It seems that you solved it.”

“Yup. I know what happened.” She knows what happened but there are still things that are left in the dark like on why the room is a mess and if Marco Jender’s murder was a locked room or not. But she’s sure this is what happened.

“How sure are you?” He asks.

“I’m about 85% sure that what I have is the truth.” This is great. She loves this feeling when everything clicks together.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“First things first: I’m going to read Marco Jender’s books.”

“Ok? What else?”

“I’m going to talk to Simon Verizon’s neighbors.”

“Hah!” Sol lets out a short laugh. “I see.”

“…” While Luna is disappointed that she hasn’t figured out who killed Simon Verizon. At least knows what kind of crime Marco Jender committed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of it... for now. I'll upload the remaining chapters after three days but for now, why don't you work your brain on a certain question:
> 
> What crime did Marco Jender commit?
> 
> I've laid out all the clues for you. so now, all you have to do is solve it.


	4. Case 1 Chapter 4: A discussion over dinner

004

/1

Gill sighs as he slowly climbs back to his apartment. Class has just ended and all he wants to do is cook dinner and go to sleep. But unfortunately, it looks he won’t be able to do something like that. As John told him that he has a visitor. And that visitor is Luna.

When he makes it to his door, he notices that it’s unlocked… again.

“Of, course.” How did she figure out where he hid his spare key? Gill opens the door and enters his room.

“Yoh.” In the well-lit apartment room, Luna waves at him, all the while eating his butter cookies.

“…Yoh.” At this point, he shouldn’t be surprised that people can easily get to his apartment. “How did you get in?”

She swallows a cookie. “I found your spare key hiding in the mail box. I though that you hid it on the doormat, but that didn’t seem the case. So, I checked the next best thing.”

“Of course, you did.” Gill drops his bag on his bed. “Anyway, did you have dinner?”

“Nope! I’ve just been here waiting for you.” She munches on another cookie.

“Since?”

“Since six.”

“…You do know that I leave at seven, right?”

“Better be early then late.”

“I see.” He can imagine that she doesn’t want them to meet at The Nutcracker right now since it’s at the middle of its rush hour right now. Wait. “Wait, who’s managing The Nutcracker if you’re here?”

“Sarah and Klein got my shift covered.”

“Sarah and Klein?”

“New employees,” Luna says. They’ve visited last week and are starting their shift today.

“Even if you have two new employees that doesn’t mean that you should just run to here.”

“But I want to come here. I figured it out.”

That piques his interest. “You did?”

“Yup.”

“I see.” He puts on his apron. “Well, I’ll hear it. But first, I need to cook dinner first.”

“Can you cook chili?”

“No.”

/2

After thirty minutes, Gill and Luna are having their dinner. Gill prepared fried rice using some leftovers and some eggs. It turned out well, but Alder lunchbox tasted so much better. Luna seems to be enjoying her dinner, though, although she is putting a lot of soy sauce and hot sauce, though.

“Wow! This is tasty,” Luna says.

Gill nods. He’s not sure if she’s complimenting his food, or she’s complimenting the mixture she just made.

“But I guess Alder’s lunchbox was much better than what you eating, huh?”

“Mm?” Gill swallows. “How did you know about that?”

“He was rubbing it in my face with this image he sent me this morning with no context.” Luna shows him the image. It’s the lunchbox that Gill ate this morning. And just by looking at the background, it’s clear that he took it when he was at Gill’s apartment.

“Ah…” Gill looks at the image in surprise. “I don’t know what Alder was trying to do. I think he’s trying to show you that he’s a better cook than you?”

“I don’t think that’s what he’s trying to rub,” Luna says in a low voice.

“What?”

“Nothing. So, was his lunchbox good?”

“Very good.”

“I see. Must be nice having someone that makes food and deliver it themselves.”

“I don’t. I wish he doesn’t get worried in whatever I’m doing.”

“What are you talking about? I think it’s great that you have someone other than your family who worries about you. And…”

“… And?” Gill says as he takes a sip of his drink.

“Don’t you think that Alder would be a great wife?”

Gill coughs. He’s glad that he managed to swallow his meal on time or else he might’ve spit it out too. “What are you talking about now?”

“I’m saying that he would be a great wife. I mean, he can cook, clean, is very talented, and his family’s loaded.”

“I think Alder will kill you if he hears this.”

“Not to mention he’s very doting and worries a lot.”

“Seriously, stop. If you keep this up, he might bust that door open with a chainsaw.”

“You’re very lucky to have such a doting wife, Gill.”

“When did I get involved in it?” Gill raises his voice.

“Haha!” Luna makes a villainous cackle. “Don’t worry. I’m just teasing.”

“Yeah, yeah, right.”

The room went quiet again. The cool air of the air conditioner starts to set in.

“So, let’s hear it. The mystery behind Marco Jender. Let’s hope it’s worth you skipping your work.” Gill says.

“Geez. You’re not gonna let that go, are you?” She takes a bite of her meal. “First, let’s offer some context: Simon Verizon died on August 20, 2027 at 6:00 AM in the morning. He died from strangulation using a rope.”

“I see, so the murder took place in the morning.” Gill tries to process this new-found information. “What about the other injuries that he has?”

“We’ll get to that,” She says. “Then, two hours later: The corpse of Simon Verizon was stabbed in the back, bludgeoned in the head, and had his throat slit.”

“Wait, so you’re saying he got his injuries after death?” He asks.

“Yup.”

“Why?”

“I’ll explain soon. After getting his injuries, Simon Verizon’s body was soon discovered by Marco Jender, who came to his editor’s apartment because he wants to deliver a draft to his editor, as his modem was broken.”

“I see.”

“Then after that, well, you know the rest, he made that post, he called the police, and that he turned himself in.” She rubs her hands. “That’s the summarized version of what happened. Any questions?”

“I do.” Gill says. He wants to get one of the most important questions out first. “I want to know the question he presented: What was the crime that Marco Jender committed?”

“You want know? That’s simple, Marco Jender’s crime is ‘Disruption of the crime scene.’

Disruption of the crime scene, it is a criminal act where someone, whether they’d be a third party, an accomplice, or simply a stranger, disrupts the scene of the crime by making it more complicated than it should be. Examples of this are: Leaving unnecessary foot prints the crime scene, hiding away incriminating evidences, adding red herrings in a crime scene, and it also includes disrupting the corpse of the victim. “So, how did he disrupt the crime scene… oh shit.” It takes him a while, but he understands what that crime it was. Luna said that he died from being strangled, then, two hours later, he got more wounds on his body. It makes no sense that the killer would bother waiting for two hours to harm the body. Unless it wasn’t the killer who did it. “So, you’re saying that it was Marco Jender who harmed his editor’s body after death?”

“You catch on quick. And yes, that’s what he did. After the death of the editor, the culprit left, then two hours later, Marco Jender came to his editor’s room and did those things to him.”

“I thought that Marco Jender went to his editor’s place around the evening.”

“That’s what we were led to believe. But it seems that his visited his editor twice that day. One time during the morning, and one time during the evening. I asked the neighboring rooms of Simon’s apartment and they said that they’ve saw Marco Jender going to his editor’s apartment that morning.”

“I see.” Didn’t Alder say something like that? That Marco Jender likes to only do his work in the morning. Who knew it would come into effect now?

“…” Gill finds it unbelievable that someone would do something like that. His editor’s dead, there is no need to soil his body further. “Why did he do it? What drives him to do something like that?”

“You should know,” Luna says. “You’re the one who gave me one the hints to solve this case.”

“…” Gill knows what she’s talking about. But, even if he does, it’s hard for him to accept it as fact. As that would contradict what Marco Jender plans to do. “He wants as many people as possible to know that his editor has died?” So it’s true then. There was no game at all. It’s just a way for him to spread that message far and wide.

“Yup.”

“That… why would he do something like that?! That doesn’t make any sense?! What would messing up his body do anything about it?”

“Hm?” Luna looks at him in confusion. “Ah, you’re looking at it in the wrong way,” she explains. “While it’s true that Marco Jender harmed his editor for that reason, it wasn’t the focus. The reason why he harmed his editor like that is to create enough mystery to fuel that post that we have going to make hours later.”

“So, you’re saying that it was a part of his plan?”

“Yeah.”

“But that’s stupid. Isn’t he just making it harder for them to figure out who killed his editor? And I’ve been thinking about it but why is it so important that he gets as many people as possible to know that there has been a murder?”

“Well…” Luna scratches her cheek. “I have a good idea why but saying out loud might make it sound that I’m crazy or something like that.”

“At this point, I’ll accept any reasoning no matter how crazy it is.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright… Well, I believe that the reason why he did is this: Marco Jender is not the real author. The real author is Simon Verizon, and the two have been maintaining a reverse relationship after the release of Marco Jender’s first book.”

“…What?”

“Ugh.” Luna looks at him uncomfortably. “Didn’t you say that you would accept any reasoning at this point? Then why are you looking me like that?”

“Sorry, but there’s a limit to how believable it is. Like, do you have any proof that Marco Jender is the actual editor and that Simon Verizon is the actual writer?”

“Their books.”

“Huh?”

“The books that they have written, it’s subtle, but there’s a difference in their writing styles. Marco Jender’s style is more stylish and is filled to the brim with purple prose while Simon Verizon’s style is more concrete and straight to the point.”

“I see. But, is that really enough?” Gill asks. “It might be possible that he just outgrew his old writing style and adopted a new one.”

“That might be the case, but the change was too quick. His second book was released one month after his first book and the changes and improvements it had completely topples his first book.”

“I see your point. But don’t you think he just hired a very good ghost writer?”

“Yes, he did. And that very good ghost writer is Simon Verizon.”

“You are dead set on this theory, are you?”

She shrugs. “It may sound stupid, and it honestly is. But it’s the one that makes the most sense out of all the other motives I can think off.”

“Then why doesn’t he just tell everyone that he’s the real writer and not him? If all Marco Jender wants is to give him attention, don’t you think that it would be the better option?”

“I don’t know.” Luna puts her hands together. “I wish I could ask him myself but it seems like they don’t accept visits at the moment.”

“I see…”

“And that’s it. There is nothing else that I can do now.”

“Wait, that’s it?” Gill asks with surprise. “Do we even know why those two reversed their roles?”

“I don’t know. But considering that the first book was written by Marco Jender and the later books are written by his editor. It’s safe to say that something happened during that span of time.”

“I see… and I guess you have no idea who killed Simon Verizon too.”

“That’s right. As much as I hate to say it, I couldn’t find anything on who might’ve killed Simon Verizon and why. Whoever did it leave no evidence that they were there at all. It was an honest to goodness perfect crime.

“…” A perfect crime. In other words, an unsolvable crime.

He feels sick in the stomach. Even if they managed to unveil Marco Jender’s lies it doesn’t matter if they don’t know who killed him. It feels like everything that they have learned up until now has been a waste.

“It’s getting cold.”

“Huh?”

“Your food. It’s getting cold,” Luna says as she continues her meal.

“Ah… right.” He almost forgot that they were having dinner. He picks up his spoon and continue eating.

“You know, there’s no reason for you to be mad.”

“…Excuse me?”

“You think I didn’t notice? When I mentioned that it was a perfect crime, you had a scary look on your face.”

“I did? Sorry.”

“It’s ok. Still, I know that you’re frustrated that we don’t know the culprit, I am too. But that doesn’t mean that you should be emotionally involved in this case. It will only cloud your judgment.”

“…” Gill nods. He was getting ahead of himself. He should calm down and think. “So, what now? Are you going to report to the police anonymously about what happened?”

“There’s no need. According to Sol, the police are going to the same conclusion that we are. The only thing left to do is to see if our speculation is correct.” She looks irritated when she said that, guess she’s frustrated that they were on the same track.

“Mm.” Gill and Luna continue to have their dinner peacefully.

/3

After finishing their dinner and after washing the dishes, Gill leads her to the entrance of The Concrete, where he says his goodbyes. But.

“Walk me home,” she says.

“Excuse me?”

“I want you to help me get home.”

“Why? Your house is only a few blocks away. Also, you left my room numerous times during the evening. This should be nothing for you.”

“Today’s just one of those day’s where I need somebody to accompany me. And besides, you wouldn’t want a young girl like me walk home all alone, right?”

“Hm.” Guess she just needs some company. “Fine. I’ll accompany you.”

“Mm. Great, great.” Luna skips ahead of Gill with him following closely behind.

The dim streetlights offer some visibility on the street along with some buildings leaving their lights on. Gill notices that there are some students forming groups and hanging out.

“It has already been a year, hasn’t it?”

“Hm?” He turns his eyes to Luna, who is slowing down her pace.

“A year?”

“Since you started being my assistant, for free no less.”

“Oh. Well, it’s not like I can ask for a fee since you’re doing this mostly for free.”

“Heh. I guess so.” She kicks a few stones off the sidewalk. “I still remembered that day. When one suspects of that murder case showed up The Nutcracker one day, and asked if he could become my assistant. I found it odd, at the time, as I couldn’t believe that there would be somebody crazy enough to join to in doing mysteries without any benefits to themselves whatsoever.”

“Is…is that so? But, why are you bringing it up now?”

She turns her head to him. “Do you ever regret in becoming my assistant?”

“Hm?” What an odd question. “Not really. In fact, I’m doing much better now since I became you’re assistant. I’m… learning. I’m slowly but surely reaching my goal.”

“Is that so?” There’s a hint of melancholy in her voice.

“What about you? Do you regret accepting me as your assistant?”

“…” Luna says nothing.

“…” Gill waits for her answer.

“No comment,” she blankly says.

“Oh, come on!” Gill shouts.

Luna chuckles. “Sorry, but I can’t answer that question right now.”

“Why is that?”

“Don’t know. But when I think I’m ready, I’ll answer that question.”

“… I see. If that’s what you want then I won’t stop you.”

Luna nods.

The warm orange lights of The Nutcracker can be seen from the distance. They’re only one block away from it.

“You can leave me here. Thanks for walking with me,” Luna says.

“Are you sure? There might be a chance that you’ll get mugged when I leave you alone.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. If someone does try to mug me, I’ll just scream. That’ll get everyone’s attention.”

“What if the mugger tries to gag you?”

“Then I’ll kick them in the balls.”

“What if the mugger is a girl?”

“I don’t care whether they have balls or a groin. I’ll still kick’em.

“Is that so?” Gill tries to hold back his laughter. “Then, goodbye, I guess.”

“Yeah, bye. See you tomorrow.”

Gill waves at Luna as he turns back as heads straight back to The Concrete. With the evening air growing more chilly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading


	5. Case 1 Epilouge: Mystery Unsolved

Epilogue

/1

…Luna has no idea what to do at this moment.

It has been three days since the murder of Simon Verizon, and a few things came to light after that.

The first one that has been made public was that Marco Jender was charged for disrupting the crime scene, and that his trial will begin in the following days.

The second one is that the culprit for the murder of Simon Verizon was never found. As time slowly ticks away and the evidences are basically non-existent, it won’t be long before it has been deemed a cold case. Although, on the internet it doesn’t seem that way at all. Because of Marco Jender’s challenge there are still people trying to solve the case. Even when he admitted what he’s crime was, even when he told everyone through that live stream that there was no reward, they’re still searching. Apparently, some of them are unsatisfied with the conclusion, and have taken upon themselves to solve it. Luna doesn’t know who those people are, but he wishes them the best of luck.

Speaking of live stream, that was something that caught Luna by surprise. As yesterday, Marco Jender started a live stream right at his own cell. Luna guessed that a security guard is streaming it.

In that live stream he confessed to everyone what his crime is, and that the game was nothing more than prank.

Luna didn’t know he would do something like that. Marco Jender could’ve kept that secret to his grave and yet he spilled everything out.

Was it guilt? Did he finally notice the weight on his shoulders and he wanted to let it out? Luna doesn’t know.

Also, there was one more info that everyone knew now because of the live stream. As during the end of it, Marco Jender suddenly speaks up: _“This is probably something that only the minority might want to know but, when I came to visit my editor that morning I saw something lying on ground next to him. It was a pin with a wolf insignia. I don’t know what that is, but to whoever that is solving this case out there, I hope that this will help.”_

And after that, the livestream ended.

Because of Marco Jender’s confession the forums sprung to life as they try to figure what wolf badge was he talking about. Luna isn’t sure far the discussion will go since there are many pins that uses wolves as their symbols. And since that it’s a pin, then whoever killed Simon Verizon belonged to an organization.

“…”

Marco Jender’s live stream helped her understand who may responsible for the death of Simon Verizon's death, but it also makes her question if it’s worth doing it.

“In my opinion, I think that you should stop,” Sol says from her phone. “Since that ‘they’ are involved then it means that the situation is more complicated then we thought.”

“I was thinking about that too. I was thinking that solving this mystery isn’t going to be worth it considering who’s involved but…”

“But?”

“Where’s the fun in that? In fact, that just makes it more exciting.”

“Luna.” It sounds like Sol tries to shout but he refrains himself. “Remember that you have somebody with you who is not familiar with the underworld. If something happened to him just because you went to deep then—”

“You’re worried about him? That’s rare.”

“…No, I’m not worried about him. I’m worried about YOU being near HIM when he snaps. That’s what I’m worried about.”

“Why are you so scared of him?” Luna asks.

“I’m not scared of him. If I want to, I can ruin his entire life. The thing is, if he meets any of ‘those’ guys, then there’s no going back to him. He’ll be back to where he belongs.”

“… I see. Don’t worry. He has somebody that’s trying their best to make sure that they don’t step on that side.”

“The problem is that person is also from that side too.” Sol retorts.

“Hey! They’re trying their best.”

She can hear Sol groans from the smartphone. “Why did I agree to help you? If I have just said no, then we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“Because you love me?”

“Shut up.”

A small chuckle erupts from the two. In a way, this is how they bond.

“So, you’re going forward this is, are you?” Sol asks.

“To be honest, I don’t know. The logical side of me says that going through is will end up biting me in the ass. But…”

“The detective side of me says that if I abandon this case then I would fail as one.”

“…I see…And there is nothing that will stop you?”

“…Yes.”

“Is that so? Then, I will give you my blessings. And hope that you will come out alive. After all, you’re supposed to run the café when dad grows old.”

“What about you? What are you going to do, now?

“I have a job to do. I’m going to delete your number and dad’s number and I’ll lay low for a while.” Sol says.

“Okay. Must be tough being the number one friend and enemy of the underworld.”

“It is. But don’t worry, I’ll have friends that will help you out if you need help.”

“Like who?”

“The guys from the Brunch n’ Drunk. I asked them to help you if you run into trouble. just talk to them and they'll come running.”

“…Are they reliable?”

“Very.”

“I see. Then, I guess this goodbye for now, huh?”

“It is. when my job’s done. I’ll call you.”

“Sure. See ya.”

“See ya.”

Case 1: Pending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the first case. I know that things are looking a bit confusing right now but please be patient as the later chapters will ease those confusion. In the mean time, the first chapter of the second case is now available for your reading pleasure.


	6. Case 2 Chapter 1: An artist, a teacher, and paella

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week has passed since the murder of Simon Verizon. Without any leads and Luna being silent, Gill is once again back back to his normal life.
> 
> That is, until Sunday came around.
> 
> On Sunday, Gill introduced himself to some old strangers.
> 
> On Sunday, A storm befalls them.
> 
> And on Sunday, a bloody incident occurs at the Concrete, driving it's tenants into confusion. And in the midst of paranoia and suspicion, where anyone can be the suspect. Gill is left to deal with this incident before something else happens.
> 
> They say that Sunday is a rest day, but unfortunately for him, he's not going to get any rest that night.

001

/1

“Oh wow…”

Another crack can be heard from the distance. That’s the third one this hour, Gill notices. Guess the weather report has been mostly true. It is going to be a heavy storm.

He gets up from his chair and stretches his body. Today’s a Sunday, which means that he has no class today, and that also means that he has nothing better to do. Normally, he would spend it by roaming the city but considering the harsh rain that’s going to pour down on them that plan goes straight out of the window. He can’t go back to sleep now as he has been sleeping for ten hours, so he can’t do that to. And he’s wondering if there is a case that Luna wants to solve, but nothing came up. Especially the one concerning Simon Verizon, which happened a week ago, but there’s nothing about that too.

“…”

Maybe he should take a walk. Not outside but inside the apartment, it’s big and they are guaranteed to be protected from the storm, so it’s a good place to walk around and waste some time.

“Right!” He slaps himself and gets himself changed. Then, he went out of his room.

The hallway of The Concrete is weird… so to speak. The gray hallway that it gives it a prison like aesthetic is adorned with wooden furniture and painting that tries it’s best to make this hallway looks more appealing to the eyes. But all it’s doing is pointing out the stark contrast between the two designs.

“Ah, you must be the kid from room 206. GOOD MORNING.” A loud voice reverberates through the hallway.

“Mm?” By the window, he sees an older man with a thick, black, bushy beard and bald head smoking a cigarette. Gill has seen him a few times but never bothered to strike a conversation with him. “Ah… good morning.”

“Hah? I can’t hear you? You should speak up.” He points his ear to Gill.

Is he deaf? “… Good morning.” Gill says a little louder.

“Still can’t hear you. Louder.”

“GOOD MORNING!” He doesn’t know what got into him, but he said it much louder then he normally does.

The older man makes a hearty laugh. “That was a very nice ‘good morning.’ I like that. You’re nice, kid.”

“…Why did you make me do that?” Gill asks.

“Why?” The man leans on the window. “Well, I was thinking that if we scream ‘good morning’ hard enough then the storm would go away. You know, because storms don’t usually give out very good mornings.”

“But… it doesn’t work like that.” Gill tells the man.

“I know. But it would be nice if it does, right?”

“I guess so.” Gill doesn’t know how to answer his questions.

“Ah.” The man takes the cigarette out of his mouth. “You don’t mind if I smoke, right?”

“It’s fine. You’re allowed to smoke by the window, the landlord said.”

“No, I’m asking if YOU are fine with me smoking.” He made it clear that the question is directed at him.

“I guess so? I mean, you were already smoking when I went out. No reason for me to stop you doing it.”

The stranger looks like he wants to say something, but then he directs his attention to the window. Gill peeks out to see what kind of view he’s looking at.

All he can see are the towering buildings of Anima City in the distance slowly being absorbed by the dark clouds looming over head, cracking thunder at every opportunity it can get.

“Looks menacing, doesn’t it?”

“It does,” Gill answers.

“It looks like something straight out of a movie. I bet that this image would go great on a two-page spread.” The man says excitedly.

Two-page spread? What is he talking about?

“Ah!” He turns to Gill. “We haven’t introduced ourselves, have we?” He offers his hand. “Gregor Bartolome, a comic artist.”

“Ah…” Gill isn’t sure if it’s because of the atmosphere or just the mood but he takes the stranger’s hand. “Gillian Gilligan, 1st year college student.”

“Oh? What sort of course are you taking?” Mr. Bartolome asks.

“…Medicine.” Gill answers.

Mr. Bartolome smiles. “So, you plan to become a doctor? That’s great, Gillian.”

“Ah, no. You can just me Gill.”

“You sure? We just met.”

“I’m fine with that.”

“If that’s what you want then I can’t argue.” Gregor went back to lean on the window.

“…”

Gill plans to leave him alone and went on his way but something is stopping him. He doesn’t understand what it is but this person seems to have a gravitational field around him. It makes you want to talk to him, and it makes you want to learn about him.

And so, Gill leans along side him on the window. “So, you’re a comic artist?” He starts.

“Yup. I’m an employee at Clockwork Comics.”

Clockwork Comics. It is a comic book publishing company located at the 7th district. Gill only knows a little about it, other than that he used to read it a lot when he was a kid. “I see. Then, what kind of comics do you make?”

“I made Henry the Detective,” he says proudly. “Have you read it?”

“No. I’ve stopped reading comics when I was starting high school.”

“Why?” Mr. Bartolome asks.

“Why? I guess that’s because a lot of people were not reading it when I was at high school. That, and I guess I was starting to outgrow comics at that time.” Gill answers.

“But you’re never too old for comics.” Gregor puffs his cigarette.

“That’s what some told me too. But I don’t know. I can never seem to get back to it.” Just like many things he tried to get into. “By the way, what kind of story is Henry the Detective? Is it a murder mystery?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing like that.” Gregor waves his hands. “Henry the Detective is a comedy. It stars a bumbling detective who’s so clumsy that he always accidentally solves any case that he’s working on.”

“Mm. Is it enjoyable?” Gill asks.

“I try to make it enjoyable, and it probably is since the kids enjoyed it,” Gregor answers with a smile. “In fact, do you want to read one? I have a copy that I can give you.”

“No, no. I’m fine. I have enough books to read in my apartment.” That’s a lie. He barely doesn’t have anything to read in there. But he doesn’t want this comic artist to bother with him.

“That’s too bad. I want to know what you think of it.”

“…” Gill tries to move. But once again, he can’t seem to do that. His curiosity is pushing him to learn about somebody that he has been aware of for a year, and only started talking to just recently. What’s up with that? What does Gill even want to talk to him about? Ah… so it’s that one. Of course, that’s the question he wants to ask. “Mr. Bartolome.”

“Mm? Mr. Bartolome? No need to be formal, you can just call me Gregor.”

“Then… Gregor, why did you become a comic artist?” Gill manages to get the question out.

“Mmmmm?” Mr. Bartolome leans his head. “What’s this? Isn’t that a rather personal question?”

“Ah…” He stammers back. “I’m sorry about that. You don’t need to answer if you don’t want to, I said it without thinking and—”

A hearty laugh erupts from the man once again. “Don’t worry, don’t worry, you did nothing wrong. I was just messing with you.”

“Huh…”

Then, his laughter stops. “So? You want to know why I become a comic artist? That’s simple: I want to make people happy.”

“…You want to make them happy?”

“That’s right. I’ve met a lot of folks when I was young. People who were bored out of their mind, people who needed a good laugh, and people who needs some sunshine. The me back then wanted to cheer them up, so I drew funny pictures for them. They were happy. And I was happy that my drawing made them happy. So, I decided to get better; I improved my art, I improved my dialogue, then I share my art with other people. And they loved it.” He says with a smile. “I think it was around that time is when I realized what I wanted to do with my life: To be a comic artist. I want to create stories that will make them happy, and I wanted to draw illustrations that will make them laugh. So, I worked and worked until I became what I wanted to be.”

“…I see. Then tell me: Are you happy with your life? Do you not regret anything?”

“No. I don’t. I’m perfectly happy with my life.”

“…” How lucky. Gregor Bartolome had a very straight forward life. He had a desire when he was young and he worked in order to reach it. There were no side steps, there were no unforeseen accidents, and there were no lose to his passion. It was a start to finish scenario. People would kill for a life like that.

“…Ah.” What’s up with him today? He shouldn’t immediately assume that Gregor Bartolome lived a straight forward life. For all he knows, he just removed the nuances in his life just so it won’t turn into jargon. Yeah, that’s it.

“Well, what about you? Why do you want to become a doctor?” Mr. Bartolome asks.

“Why?” He asks himself. Why? Why? Why? “It’s because I want to help people,” Gill says. He can taste a tinge of bitterness. “When I was kid, I always thought that doctors are cool. So, I wanted to become one. That’s all.” His tongue is becoming more and more bitter.

“Ah doctor, huh? I like that! Doctors are definitely cool! Much cooler than comic artists!” He lets out another hearty laugh. After that, he puts his hand of Gill’s shoulder. “Listen Gill. Study hard. So that you can go and help people.” He says with a smile.

“Yeah…” He feels sick.

“Hm?” Mr. Bartolome suddenly turns his head to the window. “HEY! GOOD MORNING!” He says to whoever it was down there.

“IT’S ALREADY NOON! STOP SAYING GOOD MORNING!” Says whoever it was down there.

Gill peeks at the window. There’s a young woman in her late twenties with dark skin and long brown hair carrying a large rectangular cardboard box. All by herself. That box is as big as a refrigerator.”

“I SUPPOSE YOU TWO YOUNG STRAPPING GENTLEMEN WOULD LIKE TO HELP A LADY, WON’T YOU?!”

“…” Gill and Mr. Bartolome turn to each other, and they nod in agreement. They went downstairs to where she is and help the lady carry her box. Gill went to one side of the box and Mr. Bartolome went to the other. They lift the box as they slowly bring it to wherever it needs to go.

“Be careful with that. It’s fragile,” the lady says as she helps stabilze the weight of the box. “And thanks for coming. I never expect the storm clouds to arrive this quickly.” She sounds nervous.

“What’s in the box anyway?” Mr. Bartolome asks

“Meat,” the lady plainly answers.

“Meat’s fragile?” Mr. Bartolome asks.

“It is if you want to spill meat juices all over the floor.”

“Oh.”

“Where to?” Gill asks.

“To my room. Room 203.”

“Right…ah, bollocks.” That means that have to slowly brings this heavy box to the top.

“Steady…steady now.” They slowly climb the stairs as they carry the box. Gill is making sure that he doesn’t trip on anything as they climb. Finally, they made it to the top and the rest of the trip is smooth sailing.

“Thanks.” She says as they drop the box. “I can take care of the rest from here.”

Gill stretches his back until there’s a pop.

“By the way, why didn’t John help you?” Mr. Bartolome asks.

“He really doesn’t want to move from his spot,” the lady answers. “He said that he needs to be vigilant at all times. Apparently, he’s still pissed that somebody managed to get inside The Concrete without him noticing.”

Ah… she must be talking about when Alder sneaked past the John a week ago.

“Anyway,” the lady starts. “As thanks for helping me with this box of mine. Would you two like to have lunch with me? I made some paella before I left.”

“Hmmm.” Mr. Bartolome put his finger on his chin. “That sounds great, actually. Me and Gill are glad to join you for lunch.”

“Wait, what?” Gill says in surprise.

“That’s great. Come inside then.” The lady squats down as she tries to carry the box.

“Ah… let us help with that. Come on, Gill.”

“Ah… Ok?” Once again, it feels like he’s being dragged by Mr. Bartolome’s gravitational pull. They help move the lady’s long rectangular box to her room. It takes while though, since the box is taller than the door and thus, requires some… diverse movements. But they still manage to get the box inside and place it on the side of her room.

“I’ll just arrange it when we’re done eating.” The lady says.

“…”

This is the first time that he steps into a room other than his’ so he doesn’t know what to make of it. But the lady’s room looks more like an office than a place where you can relax. This place has a working home computer, multiple white boards hanging on the wall, and a small bookshelf next to her bed. Other than that, it is mostly the same as Gill’s room, with the only difference is that she personalized it to fit her needs.

“Make yourselves at home. I’ll heat up the paella in a bit.” The lady heats up the stove. “Gregor, can you set up the table?”

“Sure!” Mr. Bartolome picks up some plats and utensils from the drawer and lay them down on the table. They look comfortable together.

“…I don’t think I should be here,” Gill manage to get the words out. It feels like he was just dragged into something that’s suppose to only be for the both of them.

“Oh? What are you talking about? Ms. Skelter invited the two of us, didn’t she?”

Ms. Skelter? So that’s her name. “I know but—”

“Hey! Didn’t I tell you not to call me by my last name?” Ms. Skelter says.

“Eh? Why not? Don’t all of your students call you that?”

“Yes, I know. But that’s to be expected since they’re all younger than me. But coming from you? Who’s older than me? It sounds off.”

“I’m not that old. I’m only two years older than you.”

“Still sounds off.”

“I see.”

“…” They act like a married couple. It makes him feel even more out of place.

“Anyway!” Mr. Bartolome puts his hand on Gill’s shoulder. “Tell me, Helen. Did you invite Gill?”

“Huh?”

“What? Of course, I did. Didn’t I just say that moments ago?”

“Well, he seems to believe that he’s a third wheel, and that you only ask him to join us just because he happened to be there.”

Oh… wow. He read right through him. That never happened before. The only other person who was able to do that is Luna’s brother.

“Seriously? I only invited you two as thanks for helping with the box. And besides.” Ms. Skelter places a tray of piping how paella on the table. “I think it would be a good time for us to get to know each other.”

“Wh-why?”

“That’s because out of everyone here, you’re the most mysterious.”

/2

The paella that Ms. Skelter made is very delicious. It’s savory, and the accompanying sea shells and shrimp gave it a rich, subtle taste.

Gill watches as Mr. Bartolome scarfs down his plate while Ms. Skelter scarfs her down too.

“So, why are you guys saying that I’m the most mysterious?” Gill asks.

“That’s because we almost know nothing about you,” Mr. Bartolome says. “Ever since you become a resident of The Concrete, we haven’t really had our chance to properly introduced ourselves. All we have been doing since you came here is quietly greeting each other. And went on with our day.”

“I see.” The reason why Gill never bothered to introduce himself with the other residents of The Concrete was because he felt like he never needed too. They’re not roommates, they’re just neighbors living in very small houses. “So, what changed?”

“Nothing changed. We want to introduce ourselves but we never got our chance to, until now.” He says.

“And that would be the lunch we’re having now? Does that mean that you two planned all of this?”

“No. Everything that happened so far has been nothing but lucky coincidences.” Ms. Skelter takes a bite of her paella.

“I see,” Gill says. “Well, sorry to disappoint you two, but I’m not very mysterious at all. I’m just a 1st year college student who lodge here because it’s close to my university.”

“Does that university happen to be Chartreuse U?” Ms. Skelter speaks up.

“That’s right.”

“I see.”

“What’s your course?”

“Medicine.”

“Mm. Aiming to be a doctor, huh? That’s a lot of work. You have to be dedicated if you want to become one.”

“I know.”

“And I have to disagree that you’re not a mysterious person, Gill.” Mr. Bartolome takes a bite of his dish. “After all, I don’t think I’ve seen someone your age lost two of their fingers. What happened?”

“Oh. This?” Gill shows them his left hand. True to what he said, he lost two fingers: the ring finger, and the pinky finger. Mr. Bartolome looks at the missing fingers with curiosity while Ms. Skelter looks at the fingers in horror as she is chewing her food.

“…” It was probably a bad idea to show them amputated fingers in the middle of lunch. “It was nothing much,” he explains to them. “My fingers were bitten by rabid dog.” That’s not the real reason why he lost his fingers but it’s better than the what really happened.

“A… rabid dog? Why did it bite you?”

“Don’t know. On my way home, a dog rushed at and tried to tear my arm off. Luckily, some brave bystanders and animal control were there and restrain the dog. My fingers at that time were already bitten off by the dog.”

“…I see…Did you have your shots?”

“Yeah. As soon as I was sent to the hospital.”

“That’s good.”

The conversation went silent. Which is to be expected, since their topic was about dismembered fingers. Gill doesn’t think anyone would want to talk about missing limbs during meals except maybe Luna.

“Anyway, enough of this morbid stuff.” Mr. Bartolome breaks the ice. “You two haven’t introduced yourselves and you’re already talking about stuff like this.”

“Oh…”

“Huh?”

They never really did that, did they?

Ms. Skelter get up from her seat and gives her hand to Gill. “Helen Skelter, a high school teacher.”

Gill gets up and shakes her hand. “Gillian Gilligan, college student. People call me Gill, so you can call me that too.”

“I’m just going to call you Gillian,” she replies.

“Suit yourself.”

After the handshake the three of them continue their meal. Gill feels that it would be awkward to just stop talking after introducing themselves so he tries to think of something to keep the conversation going. “So, you’re a high school teacher? Which school are teaching at?”

“Anima Public High school. Did you go there?”

“Yeah, spent my four years over there.” Same goes for Alder. Hm? Something’s off. “I thought that you would be a teacher for Vermillion High since it’s close by.”

“I actually was planning to be a teacher for Vermillion High, but I didn’t meet the qualifications and thus, I was led out. At that time, I was already a resident of The Concrete and there weren’t any apartments close to Anima High. So, I bit the bullet and here I am with my life.”

“I see.”

Vermillion High, it’s a private high school that Luna attends. He doesn’t have other information of that school other than that…Heh?

Gill watches in surprise as Mr. Bartolome finishes half of his plate in the single gorge. After chewing, gets up from his seat. “Thanks for the meal. I really want to stay and chat but I still need to finish story boarding the next three issues so I have to start now.” Mr. Bartolome tidies himself just before he leaves.

“What about tonight’s party? Would you be able to attend?”

“Hmmm. I don’t think I’ll be able to do that right now. Maybe I’ll join next week instead. Is that alright?”

“Yeah, it’s alright.”

“Well then.” Mr. Bartolome reaches to the door. “I’ll see you guys some time in the future. And Gill.”

“Yes?”

He waves as he leaves. “Let’s have a chat again soon.” And with that, he leaves the scene. Leaving only Gill and Ms. Skelter on the table.

“…”

“…”

“He’s quite an odd guy, isn’t he?” She says with a sigh. “He follows his own pace without a care in the world, dragging along other people without them noticing.”

What is she going on about? “What do you mean by that?”

“It is what I’ve said: He seems to have this strange aura around him. That no matter where he goes, or who he talks to, there would always be people sticking by him, talking to him, or helping him. Like he has this gravitational field made out of pure optimism. I think something like that would benefit him greatly if he was a government official or a member of some rights movement.

That feeling that Gill was being pulled by him. Is that really optimism? Or perhaps it is something close to charisma? “And? Is there something wrong with that?”

“Not really.” Ms. Skelter shrugs. “In fact, I’m actually glad that he’s optimistic. I’ve met too many people who are pessimistic over at Anima High.”

“Is that so? By the way, what subject are handling?”

“History,” she answers. “Are you good at it?”

“My grades at that subject have mostly been below average.”

“Oh…”

They continue their meal. Then… there’s another thunder crack coming from the distance.

A yelp escapes from Ms. Skelter as pieces from the paella scatters all over the table. Luckily, those pieces only came from her spoon.

“Geez. That one was close just now. Are you okay?” He asks her.

“Yeah… don’t worry about it.” She takes a deep breath. “You don’t have to worry about the mess. I’ll clean it up by myself.”

“Ah…Ok?” What was that all about? Since that they are inside the room, the lightning wasn’t that loud. Even if it was nearby, but it seems to have been enough to startle Helen Skelter.

“…” Now that he has taken a good look at her. There’s something off about the way she’s dressed. More specifically, she wears some pretty long gloves. It reaches all the way to her elbows.

“You’re looking at my gloves, weren’t you?”

“!? I’m sorry. That was rude.”

“Hm. Don’t worry about it. You find this strange, don’t you?”

“Not really. I know that some people have unique fashion senses.”

Ms. Skelter laughs. “Yeah, it is pretty unique, huh? You would expect somebody wearing this at a wedding or party but here I am, wearing it as a regular old piece of clothing.”

“Yeah.” With nothing else left to say, Gill is left with no choice but to agree with her.

“Ah, right. I forgot to ask you something.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“How old are you?”

“I’m 19.”

“Good! Then, do you drink?”

He knows where this conversation is going. “I do. But it was only one time and that was during our high school graduation. I was knocked out after one glass.”

“I see. So, you can’t hold your liquor?”

“Absolutely.”

“That sucks.”

“You were thinking about inviting me to this get together, were you?”

“Yeah. It’s something that me, Gregor, and Diana do every week, and I was thinking about inviting you too. But since that you are weak then yeah. Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. Social gatherings aren’t my thing.”

/3

After lunch, Gill cleans Ms. Skelter’s table while she’s doing the dishes. Even though she told him that she would be the to clean up the mess, Gill doesn’t mind. He wanted to help her after giving them a delicious meal. Although, it's odd seeing somebody wearing rubber gloves over those long gloves. She really doesn't want to take them off.

“You know, we another resident here who studies at Magenta U,” Ms. Skelter says. “His name is Phillip Forms, he lives at room 110. A second year taking the Economics Course. Might be great for two to know each other.”

“Huh?” There’s somebody who goes to the same university as him in this apartment. “Do you want me to meet him or something?”

“I mean, I would love to. That guy has been mostly holed up in his room. Only going out when he needs to attend classes.”

“Maybe we should just leave him alone?” Gill says. “If he doesn’t want to come out the we should leave it at that.”

“I know that. But it would be nice for him to be a bit more social towards his neighbors, especially if he plans to stay here for two more years.”

“Then why me? Why not Mr. Bartolome?”

“I think that you’re better suited to communicate with Phillip Forms since you both study at the same university and you both happen to be pessimistic young adults.”

“Hey! I take offense to that.”

Ms. Skelter laughs as she removes her gloves and gives him two plastic containers. They both have paella inside.

“I don’t think I need this many paella,” Gill says.

“One of them is not for you. It’s for Phillip Forms. I want you to deliver this to him”

“What why?”

“So that you two have can reason to see each other and strike up a conversation,” she says with a smile. “Food is always the best conversation starter.”

“I thought it was beer.”

“…Food is the 2nd best conversation starter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter of the second case. Expect the next chapters coming next Friday. Please be patient until then.


	7. Case 2 Chapter 2: Paella, a teacher, and a student.

002

/1

Looks like he has no other choice but to do it.

Gillian Gilligan has two plastic containers on his hands. He sure as hell know that he can’t finish all of this by himself, and he also knows that paella can go bad quickly. So, he is left with no other choice but to visit room 110 and deliver it to Phillip Forms. Ms. Skelter bothered to give this to him so that Gill can socialize, might as well take a lemon and make lemonade.

He went down to the first floor as he pays attention to the singing wind and the cracking thunder. The weather report said that the downfall will start around the evening, giving a lot of people plenty of time to prepare themselves for the upcoming storm.

“…” He made it to the door of room 110. He knocks on it.

“…”

“…”

No response. Gill knocks on the door again.

“…”

Once again, no answer. Could Phillip Forms not be at his room? It’s likely but who chooses to go out in the middle of this weather right now? Well, there was Ms. Skelter but that’s a different topic entirely.

“…” He knocks on the door one more time. If there’s no response then he will leave.

“…”

“…”

“…?” He hears a click coming from the door, then, it opens slightly. A pale looking young man is peeking trough the door. His eyes almost look like a fish. This person might be Phillip Forms.

“Yes? Who are you and what do you want?”

“Um…” Wow, he went straight to the point. “I’m Gillian Gilligan. I live at room 206. I have some paella.”

“Paella?” his eyes lit up. As much as fish eyes can do.

“Uh, yeah. I had lunch with Ms. Skelter and she asks me to deliver this paella to you.” He offers it to him.

“Helen Skelter…” Phillip Forms squints his eyes at the paella. “I see…”

“So… here you go?” He feels awkward talking to him. Talking to another person who sucks at instigating communication just as much as him feels rigid.

“No thanks.” He pushes the plastic container away.

“What?”

“I don’t like paella,” Phillip Forms says. “Goodbye.” He closes the door. Leaving Gill alone on the door with two paella.

“Huh?” Well, that went well. Looks like he doesn’t want it. But, when Gill mentioned that he has paella, the young man’s eye lit up just now. “Well that went well.”

So, what now? He still has two paellas on his hand. Should he return one of them to Ms. Skelter? He thinks that he should, since that Phillip Forms didn’t accept the paella.

“…” He’ll go back to her room and return one of them to her.

Gill makes his way back to the second floor, then, from his left, he notices somebody carrying a cardboard box. The box that this person is much smaller than what he and Mr. Bartolome were carrying.

The person carrying the box is a young woman who is her late twenties, with short brown hair and wears an orange parka. She must be another resident of The Concrete.

“Good afternoon!” The young lady cheerfully says. “I think I’ve seen you before. Or maybe I didn’t. Or maybe I keep seeing you and I just never bothered to talk to you.” She puts the box that she’s carrying on the floor.

“…” What the hell. She’s just like Mr. Bartolome, with only less control.

“Um…” Gill tries to think of something. “I think we have met before. Maybe. Probably. I’m Gillian Gilligan from room 206. Nice to meet you.”

“Oh… now I remember you. You’re that mystery person that never seems to talk to anybody since they start to live here.”

“Yeah, that’s me,” he says admittedly.

“You’re also that guy who had a high school girl come to his room a week ago.”

“Uh…”

“You also seem to be the guy that the mysterious intruder visited last week too,” she says as if they are an undeniable fact.

“…How, do you know about these things?” He asks. Nobody should’ve known about these things.”

“Hm? Oh! The little Landlady told me about it. She’s just surprised by many people visit you.”

Little Landlady? Ah, she must be talking about Nina Ceval. Why is she using him as a topic for her discussion?

“What’s that you got there?” She eyes at his two plastic containers.

“Paella,” Gill answers. “Ms. Skelter made some and gave me some of the leftovers. Although, one of them is for Phillip Forms. But he doesn’t like paella so I’m left carrying these two.”

“Hoh? Helen’s cooking…” She continues to look at container intensely… Is that drool coming out of her mouth?

“…Are you hungry, miss?”

“Very. I haven’t had lunch yet and I didn’t have breakfast, either.”

“Why?”

“Well, you know the storm that’s coming this evening, right? during situations like this, people would usually flock to the supermarkets to buy what they need just in case the storm hits harder then it should. You see where I’m going with this?”

She wants him to answer this? Like some logic quiz? He doesn’t need to think to hard about it since the answer is simple. “So, you went out early in the morning to avoid the pre-storm rush?”

“Gold star.” She snaps her finger. “But, I didn’t go out early in the morning, I went out at around 10. And as you might’ve guessed. There were already a lot of people there. Took me almost two hours just to get to the cashier.”

Two hours? That’s rough. “So, that cardboard box is your groceries, huh?”

“Not really. I didn’t buy anything other than beer,” she answers without a care in the world.

“Beer?”

“Yup, beer.”

“Just beer?”

“Just beer.”

“So, you’ve waited in line for two hours with just a a pack of beer?”

“Absolutely.”

“…” He has no words. He doesn’t know what to say to her. So he silently decides to drop the conversation just so he doesn’t need to think about it anymore. Better change the topic. “Anyway, since that you’re hungry. Do you want to have Phillip Forms’ paella?”

“You sure?”

“Since he said that he doesn’t like paella. I think it’s fine to give it to you,” Gill says.

She looks like she wants to get it, but then she stops. “I don’t think Phillip doesn’t like paella. I think he’s just too shy to accept it from you.”

Oh. He didn’t think of that. That might be the case since they’ve just met. “So, what am I supposed to do about it?” He asks her.

“I don’t know. Why don’t you try asking him again later?” She offers. Just as she says that. Her stomach rumbles. It’s quite loud too.

“Well, since that I might try this ‘giving paella to Phillip Forms’ thing another shot, you can have mine instead.”

“Are you sure?” She asks with suspicion. “You might get hungry later.”

“Don’t worry about it. Here.” He offers her one of the paellas.

The lady takes the paella. “Wow… thanks. I’ll be sure to eat it later. And I’ll be sure to repay this debt someday.” She puts the container on top of the box. Then, she turns to him. “I forgot to introduce myself. How rude of me, you don’t know my yet I know yours. You must be pretty insulted.”

“Uh… not reall—”

“And in order to mitigate this insult, I will tell you my name.”

…She’s not listening.

“My name is Diana Meyner. Nice to meet you.”

Diana? Ah, he gets it. “Nice to meet you to. I’ve heard of you somewhat from Ms. Skelter. Apparently, you two, along with Mr. Bartolome, are drinking buddies.”

“Oh, my. Helen’s letting her tongue fly. That’s rare. Are you going to join us for tonight?”

“No. I suck at dealing with alcohol.”

“Really? That’s a shame.” She picks up the box. “Anyway, I still need to bring these to my room for tonight. Goodbye!” And with that, she went on her way to the left wing. Which means that her room is in the first floor.

“I see…”

“…” The hallway is quiet. Well, not quite. The wind is starting to pick up, which results in a whistling like sound coming from the outside. They should probably keep the windows closed when the storm hits.

He still has the paella on his hands. Should he give it one more shot? He can’t exactly eat this, and he gave his to Ms. Meyner, might as well try again.

He walks back to the door of room 110 and knocks on it. Waiting for the response of Phillip Forms.

“…” No response. Is Phillip Forms ignoring him? That would make sense. But how would he know that it’s Gill knocking on the door?

He looks around. There’s no security camera. In fact, The Concrete doesn’t have any security cameras. Apparently, the Landlord’s reason for doing something like this is for ‘privacy.’ But the real reason is probably the cost or something close to it.

He knocks on the door again. “Are you shy, Phillip Forms? Is that why you don’t want to accept the paella?”

There’s a click on the door. Then, it opens slightly. “What the hell are you going on about?” The pale man says. “Where the hell did you get the idea that I’m shy?

“I don’t know,” he answers. Deciding to leave Ms. Meyner out of the discussion. “But I don’t think you’re shy. I think that you don’t want other people to bother you because you believe their time would be better spent taking care of their own business, right? Is that why you didn’t accept the paella.”

Phillip Forms squints his eyes at him. Then, he raises his eyebrows. Did Gill get it right? or did he get it wrong?

“I…What?” He says in exasperation. “Is what I’m saying really hard to understand?! Do everything I say need to have some kind of meaning? I already told you that I don’t like paella.”

“Then why don’t you just accept it? You don’t have to eat it, you can give it to somebody else if you want to. Ms. Skelter seems to worry that the two of us are not socializing with everybody. So, here I am, giving you this paella. So that we can socialize.”

“I see… So that’s the kind of person you are.” Phillip Forms says just enough so that Gill can hear him. “You’re a people pleaser, aren’t you? You’re that kind of person who’ll do things just because people say so?”

“…” He can’t deny that… but. “Where did you get assumption?”

“You don’t think I don’t know what’s going on outside The Concrete, don’t you? Well I do. I know that ever since you start living here. You never bothered to interact with anybody in The Concrete, you only interacted with ones who started the conversation first.”

“…”

“And to be honest, when I saw you knock on my door, I thought that you finally wanted to take the initiative. Only for me to find out that you’re only doing this just because Helen Skelter told you to.”

“…I can’t deny that. But what is wrong with that?” Gill says. “What’s wrong with following other people’s advice.”

“It’s not the thing about following other people’s advice. It’s that you seem to be more like a puppet on strings.”

“Puppet?” Does he really look like a puppet to him?

“If you don’t think you’re a puppet then tell me this: If Helen Skelter didn’t ask you, would you bother to visit him?”

“…” Gill knows the answer to that. “No, I won’t. I probably won’t visit you unless something happened.” If Gill must honest, that would be is answer.

Phillip Forms looks at him. And then, he laughs. Gill can’t tell what kind of laugh it is. Whether it’s joyful or sinister he can’t tell.

“You’re surprisingly honest, are you? People would normally try to refute something like this but here you are, accepting it like it’s no issue. How odd.”

“I wouldn’t say that I’m accepting it without issues. I just can’t deny in what you’re saying,” Gill says.

“Mm.” All Phillip Forms did is nod. “Well, my response is the same: I won’t take the paella. If you want to eat it, go ahead. If you want to give it somebody, go ahead.”

“I see…” So, he’s not shy. He just like being alone. That makes sense. “Alright. I won’t bother you about the paella anymore.”

“Thank you.” He breathes a sigh of relief.

“Still, it’s a bit rude to immediately assume the personality of someone you’ve just met.” Gill tell him.

“Says the one who did the same thing just moments ago. And besides, I didn’t assume. You said yourself that you can’t deny I just said.

…Well, he can’t den—Ah, he did it again.

Gill decides to wave him goodbye as he went on his way.

“By the way.” Phillip Forms calls out to him.

“Hm?” Gill turns to him.

He looks a bit nervous. He’s fidgeting his fingers on the door. “I don’t mind if you come to visit next time. But next time, make sure that you’re coming here because you want to. Not because some other people asked you to.”

“Sure. I’ll keep that in mind,” Gill answers. “And if you want to visit. You can find at room 206 around mornings and evenings.” Gill offers him. His mothers told him that when someone offers him, he should offer them the same thing if it’s reasonable.

“…I’ll keep that in mind.” And with that, Phillip Forms closes the door.

Gill makes a small bow to the door and then, he makes his way back to the second floor. He decides to go back to his room and browse the internet. What a way to spend time.

_“You’re like a puppet on strings.”_

“…” Even though he doesn’t deny it. Even though what he’s saying has some truth to it. Gill can’t help but get a little bit irritated when he said that to him. He doesn’t understand why. It’s not like he’s being insulted. Guess being called a puppet has more weight than he realized… Why though.

_“Who are you trying to fool? Why are you trying to pretend you’re something when you’re not.”_

“…” Now that’s odd. Where did that memory came from? It sounds like something somebody said to him a long time ago. But he can’t seem to remember who said it, and why? His memory before family took him in is incredibly fuzzy. He doesn’t understand why.

“…” It’s best not to think about it. His temple is starting to hurt.

On his way back to his room, he sees somebody leaning on the window drinking what looks like a can of beer. It’s Diana Meyner. What is she doing drinking a beer this early in the day? Isn’t there party tonight?

_“Next time, if you want to come, make sure that you’re coming here because you want to. Not because other people are telling you to.”_

_“Nothing changed. We want to introduce ourselves but we never got the chance to, until now.”_

“…” Those words seem to be clinging to his head a lot more strongly than he likes.

Should he try to be more assertive in forming connections? He doesn’t know if he should. He’s pretty comfortable with his current connections. So much so, that he doesn’t want to add any more.

But.

Maybe he should. Maybe he should have more connections. Maybe he should try to know more people. Just so he can be a little bit more human.

But he’ll only do this once. Just so he can get used to it, and try again with Phillip Forms.

“Hey…Hello.” The first step in forming connections is to start with a greeting.

“Oh! Well if it isn’t Mr. Savior. You still haven’t given him is paella?”

“He really doesn’t want it. He’s not shy at all.”

“Is that so? I guess I’ve misjudged him.”

“Also, what’s with that name you gave me just now?” Gill doesn’t think he did anything to be called that.

“Why wouldn’t I call you that? You gave me food. Your own food, too. at the day where I was too lazy to prepare anything before hand.”

“I see… but still, please don’t call me that.”

“If you insist.” She shrugs. Then, she takes a sip from her can.

“Isn’t it a bit early to have a beer? Don’t you guys have a party later?”

“It’s only one can.” She plays with the can with a sly grin. “It’ll take more then that to get me sloshed.”

“Hm.” He nods. No choice but to leave her be.

“So, tell me about yourself?”

“Uh, what?”

“Tell me things about you. This is our first actual conversation so let’s use this to get to know each other. Ah, I guess it’s a bit rude for me to be asking things about you before you know anything about me. Or maybe you’re one of those people who likes to talk about themselves. No, that’s not right. You don’t look like that sort of person…unless you actually are…Ah…” She turns to him. “Sorry for rambling like that. It’s a bad habit of mine, I just ramble on anything that’s in my head.”

“I… can see that.” He doesn’t know how to handle that sort of person. The closest one he can think of that rambles like that is Luna. And he mostly understands her because mysteries are little bit easy for him to grasp. “So, what now?”

“I don’t know,” Ms. Meyner answers. “Do you want to go first or do you want me to go first.”

“I’m not sure. In fact, you don’t need to talk about yourself if you don’t want to. I’m fine with you asking questions about me, though.”

“Nah, won’t do that. That’s unfair. We can’t understand each other if I only things about you.”

“…”

“…”

They aren’t getting anywhere like this. They’re just passing the torch to one another without one making the first move. He should do something, fast.

“Ah…” He knows what to do. He pulls out a coin from his back pocket. “Heads or tails?”

“What?”

“Heads or tails. Who ever loses will be questioned first. Is that alright?”

“Yeah… that’s fine. In fact, it’s like spin the bottle. Except it’s not as exciting.” A small laugh escape from her. “I think I’ll go with tails.”

“I’ll have heads then.” Gill flips the coin in the air. The coin falls down with a few hops until it lands on…

“Tails,” Ms. Meyner says first.

“Tails.”

“Haha, Guess I’m first. I’m fine with that. So? What do you want to know about me?”

“I don’t know,” Gill answers honestly. “I guess I can start with what your job is.”

“Mm. that’s a good place to start. I guess,” she says with a laugh. “I’m a teacher at Vermillion High.”

“Oh? A teacher?” Guess that means that she probably have seen Luna at some point. Better omit her from this conversation for the sake of her privacy. “What subject are you handling?”

“Math,” she says.

“Ugh…”

“What? Are you bad at math?”

“Kind of? I think I’m around below average rather than being bad at it.”

“Hm. Well, at least it’s better than being completely bad at it.”

“I guess so,” he answers. “Is that the reason why you’re staying at The Concrete? Because the school is nearby?”

“Not quite.” She crosses her arms. “The reason why I decided to become a teacher at Vermillion High was because I’ve been staying at The Concrete for quite some time now.”

“I see. So, it was the other way around.”

“Uh-huh.”

Gill tries to think of something else to keep the conversation going. He can’t just do the whole coin flip thing and be satisfied with just one answer. “So, uh, what it’s like being a teacher?”

“It’s good. Sure, the students can be a bit of a hassle, the pay is not great which doesn’t make sense since they are private school, and the fact that for some reason, there’s an octopus hiding in the toilet. But it’s good.”

“I… I see.” Gill thinks he remembers Luna mentioning about the octopus on the toilet. Must be a hassle to deal with. “I kind of get why it’s tough but hang in there. Something good might happen soon, I think.”

“Pft! Sure, sure. I’ll hold on to that.” A sigh escape from her. “Anything else you want to ask?”

“Kind of. But you’re fine to answer this if you want.”

“Sure, sure. What is it?”

“Are you and Ms. Skelter friends?” That’s the question he wants to ask.

Ms. Meyner looks at him. And then she laughs. “What kind of question is that! What was your train of thought when you think of something like that!” She continues laughing.

“Uh, I guess it’s because the both of you are teachers? So, I guess I assume that you two have a lot in common.”

She continues laughing. “Oh, dear, you want to know if me and Helen are friends? Dear me, we are much more then just friends. We’re basically sisters.”

“You two are sisters?” That takes him by surprise.

“Yes, we are. We’re not biological sisters though, but we’re as close as sisters could get.”

“Uh… I see.”

“We’re so close that I almost know everything about her.”

“Everything?”

“Yes. Everything.”

“But that’s impossible,” Gill retorts. “It’s very unlikely for one person to know everything is there about another person.” As one person always hides things about themselves that they don’t want other people to see.

“I know. But I take pride in the fact that I know her more than a lot of other people do.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Like the fact that she afraid of lightning,” Ms. Meyner says with a grimace.

“She is?”

“Yes. She has Astra-phobia. Which can be quite daunting for her especially during times like this.”

Astra-phobia, the irrational fear of lightning. So that explains her behavior during their lunch, and when him and Mr. Bartolome were helping her with her box. “I see. Can she even have her enjoy her even with the weather like this?”

“Actually, it’s quite convenient that we have a party at the same time the storm will drop. I’ll help her drown out the thunder.”

Spoken like a true friend. Or sister, in their case.

“Got any more questions for me?”

Gill is curious about something. “I have one more. Is that okay? After this it’s your turn.”

“Then go ahead. What’s this question that you want to ask?”

“Why did you become a teacher?” Gill asks.

“…” Ms. Meyner tilts her head. And looks at him dead in the eyes. There’s a chill on his back. “My, my. We’ve just formally met and yet, you’re already asking THAT sort of question? How forward.”

“…” Gill isn’t sure how to respond to this. She might be joking just like Mr. Bartolome or she might be serious. Only one way to find out. “So… I take it that you don’t want to answer that question?”

“No, I don’t.”

“I see.” He never expected her to respond like that. Guess that topic is bit touchy for her.

Ms. Meyner rubs her forehead with her fingers. “Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No, I should be sorry. That was a personal question. Shouldn’t ask you something like that so soon.” Gill waves his hand.

“I accept your apology.” She takes a swing of her beer. “Ugh, definitely needs something to go with this.” She rubs her lips with her arm.

“…?” There’s another crack of thunder. And from across the hallway. He hears a girlish scream.

“That’s definitely Helen.” Ms. Meyner grimaces. “She’s not having a good time right now.”

“Guess so.” A cool wind passes by him.

“Now then, since that it’s my turn, what kind of questions should I ask you? Hm…” She puts her finger on her chin. She’ thinking deeply about it. “Hmmmm. Hmmmmm!” Then, she snaps her fingers. “Do you have a girlfriend?” She says happily.

“No, I don’t,” he answers honestly.

“Oh…” She sounds disappointed. “Then, do you have a boyfriend?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend too.”

“Aw…” Another disappointed huff. “Then, do you have a romantic partner at least?”

“No, no romantic partner.”

“Well that’s boring.” She slumps on the window. “I was hoping that I would get something juicy from the mysterious newbie.”

“…What brought this line of questioning?” He asks her. Wondering why she wants to know if has any love life.

“I was thinking that you might have somebody with you since you seem to be very popular, having two visitors coming to your room every other day.”

“We’re just friends. Nothing more than that.”

“Oh? But is there a chance that this friendship might grow into something more?”

“…? I don’t think so. Sure, they’re nice to me but it’s nothing more than that.”

“Hm! How disappointing.” She takes another shot of her beer until it’s empty.

“Say, do you have anything like that?” Gill asks. “Do you have a romantic partner?”

“Oh… What do you think you’re doing? What are you doing asking questions? Isn’t it supposed to be my turn?” Ms. Meyner laughs. He can smell the alcohol coming off her mouth.

“Right… forgot that about that. Then, do have any other questions?”

“I do.” She flicks her can. “Since you’re living alone, I have to guess that you’re a college student, right?”

“Yes, I’m studying medicine.”

“Oh? That’s nice. Do you plan on becoming a doctor?”

“…Yes.” A bitterness on his tongue.

“I see. Then, this is my last question. Just like what you said, you’re free to not answer if you want to.”

“Sure. Go ahead. What is it?”

“Are you happy with the path you’re walking right now?”

“…Excuse me?” Gill has a sense of déjà vu when he hears that question.

“I’m asking if you are happy? Are you happy that you are staying here? Are you happy with the course you’ve chosen? And are you happy where your life is heading?”

“…” Is he happy where his life is going? Does he not have any regrets on the decisions that he have made? Does he have future have he can be proud of in walking? “I don’t know. I’m not sure. I’m definitely going somewhere but I don’t know if I should be happy about it or not.”

“I see…” She puts a hand on his shoulder. “Sorry about asking that. Look like you still haven’t found it too, huh?” She picks up something that was on the floor… it’s another can of beer. “Here. This will cheer you up.”

Gill pushes the can away. “Sorry. I don’t drink.”

“Aw, come on. Just one. It’ll make the pain go away~”

“Don’t want it.” He pushes it back to her.”

“Hmph. Fine.” She opens the can and takes another swing. “Anyway, it’s nice talking to. But I need to go back to my room now. I still need to clear my backlog before we could celebrate.”

“Right, see you.” Gill waves her goodbye as he walks back to his room and plops down at his bed. He socialized with four people today. That’s somewhat of an achievement for him. But socializing always drains a lot of energy out of him so all he wants to do now is lie down, browse the internet, and pass the time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Another new chapter will be released next friday


	8. Case 2 Chapter 3: Vermillion High Mystery

003

/1

A crack of thunder.

The whistle of the wind.

And the harsh downpour of rain.

Before Gill has even realized it, the storm is already here. He closes the window as to not let the wind and the rain get inside.

He checks the time on his phone; It’s 5:40 PM, which means that he spent almost three hours browsing the net. What a time sink this is.

“…” Gill wonders what he should do. It’s still to early for him to make dinner and he’s not especially hungry. He has magazines but he already read through them. And he didn’t find anything noteworthy of the internet.

Gill takes the time to observe his room. It’s still the same as it was yesterday and it’s still the same as it was when Gill first stepped into this room. Aside from the piles of magazines.

Maybe he should start personalizing his room. Making it more like himself. Too bad he doesn’t what does that even mean.

Gill sighs as he puts on his shoes. Maybe a walk around the outside will stave of his boredom. But he shouldn’t take too long as he still needs to make dinner for himself.

He steps out of his room. It takes him a while to get out as the wind is pushing him back but he manages to do so.

“…” the world outside of The Concrete is being pelted by raindrops after raindrops, curtaining the world beyond the gate.

Speaking of gate, Gill looks down to see if John the gatekeeper is doing well.

…He’s not there. He’s not at his station. Guess he must’ve went inside when it gets heavy.

There’s a commotion coming from Ms. Skelter’s room. They’re probably having their party right now.

“Oh! What are you doing out here? Is the weather comfy enough for you?”

Gill turns to the source of the voice. It’s Mr. Bartolome, carrying a few plastic containers. It looks like he just got out of Ms. Skelter’s room.

“Oh…hello. How are you.” Gill waves at him. “Did you just get out of the party?”

“Yeah, but I never meant to,” he says with a laugh. “They invited me for dinner so I took their offer. And while we were eating, Diana brought out the beer. It would be rude for me to decline so I decided to have one glass—”

Gill knows where this is going.

“—However, as soon as I finished one, she fills my glass with another, leaving me no choice but to drink it again—”

That sounds like something that she would do.

“—This back and forth have been going on for a while until Helen stopped her from filling my glass. Which lets me finish my meal. Helen apologized for the behavior and gave me some food to bring home.” He happily presents the food to Gill.

“What’s inside?”

“Steak and barbeque. They were all from the box that we helped carry this noon.”

“Oh.”

“Maybe you should visit her and get some steak for yourself?”

There it is again. That strange sensation that compels him to do exactly as he says. But, Gill tries to resist it. “Oh, no need for that. I’m preparing something for dinner.” He lies. He doesn’t want to bother them any more then he already does.

“Oh? That’s nice.” He passes by Gill. “Well, see you. Need to finish up the rest of the manuscript.” With that, he waves him goodbye and went on his own way.

“Hm…” What now? There’s no way in he’s going to Ms. Skelter’s room considering the chaos that’s happening over there.

Gill decides to head downstairs to the first-floor lobby and watch the rain slowly go up the pavement. Sooner or later, it will reach the first floor if it keeps raining like this.

“?” There’s two people sitting on the couch. A man in his early forties who’s already who’s hair is already starting to turn gray, and woman in her thirties with blonde hair shaped in a bun. It’s John the gate keeper and Martha the housekeeper, the two of the three people who maintains the stability of The Concrete.

She’s wiping his head with a towel. “Didn’t I say that you need to stay here?! Why do you always try to go back there even if it’s raining?”

John types something on his phone and shows it to Martha.

“I don’t give two shits that you’re shift hasn’t ended! Have you seen outside? You’ll turn into a pelted patty if you step outside!”

He types on his phone and shows it to her.

Her face turns into a tomato. “Just listen to me and relax for once! You understand? Even Ms. Ceval said that you need to rest.”

John puts his finger on the phone but he puts it away, letting Nina wipe his head.

“…” He feels out of place here. Better give them some alone time. Gill slowly climbs the stairs as to not let them know that he’s here.

He made it back to his room and went inside—

“You’re here. Where have you been?”

“…”

“What? Don’t just stand there gawking. Aren’t you coming inside?

“…”

“Ok…? Are you alright? If you keep you’re mouth open, a fly might get inside.”

“Ah…” Of course. Of course, something like this would happen again. How can Gill be so naïve as to expect something like this only happens once or twice. Just how much of an optimist is he?

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“No, I’ve seen somebody much worse than a ghost,” Gill says.

There is a young girl lying down at his bed, reading one his magazines. She’s tall her age, dark skin, black curly hair, and has a blue scarf around her neck. The girl looking at his magazine with the highest level of boredom is Nina Ceval, a student at Vermillion High., and the daughter of the Landlord.

“You consider me much worse than a ghost?” She drops the magazine on the bed. “Don’t know if I should take it as an insult or a compliment.”

“Take it however you want.” Gill opens the cabinet and takes a cup noodle. He prepares the ingredients as he boils the water. “How did you get inside? Where did you find the key?”

“There was no need for me to look for the key,” Nina says. “You left your door unlocked, so I went inside.”

…Of course, it was something obvious that gets him. “I see. So, why are you here? Is there something you want?”

“There’s a mystery,” Nina says. “And I need your help in solving it.”

Gill raises an eyebrow. “Why me? Why not ask Luna? I’m sure she would be delighted being asked by her number one fan.” He pours the boiling water unto the cup.

“I can’t ask her!” She jumps of her bed. “Luna might be busy with another case. It won’t right to disturb her with a small case like mine.”

“And that’s why you decide to disturb her assistant?” He puts the cup on the table. “What if I’m busy with another case with her?”

“Are you?” She asks.

“Well…I’m not really busy. The past week has been peaceful. Luna hasn’t dragged me to any cases.”

A sigh escape from her. “I wish she could bring me one of her cases.”

“Then why not ask her?” Gill asks her. That question that he told her many times in the past.

“I can’t do that! I don’t have the right to stand next to her, to be in the same room as her, to breathe the same air as her!”

Gill sighs in retaliation. He can see why Nina would respect Luna, Gill would know and Nina saw her in action whenever there are any mysteries in Vermillion High. But… isn’t her admiration a bit excessive? “Don’t you think it would be better if you just talk to her rather than admire her from a distance?”

“…When my heart is ready.” Nina plays with her hair.

“…” Gill has no other choice but to accept that answer, considering that Nina looks embarrassed just saying it. “Still, it doesn’t answer the question on why you would on me. I’m just the assistant. I don’t have the deduction skills needed to solve whatever mystery you have.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.” She assures him. “The mystery that I have with me quite simple.”

“And why do you think it’s simple?”

“I just think it is?” she shrugs. It doesn’t assure him at all.

Oh, god. He’s not ready for something like this. “You know what? Why don’t I just call Luna right now? You two can have a chat on whatever mystery you have.”

For a brief second, she looks happy but then she steps back. “No, no, it won’t be romantic. A mystery should be discussed in a room, not by the phone.”

Oh, come on. “Then what? You still want me? What if I said no?”

“If you say no then…” She hits her head. “I have no other choice but to increase your bill.”

All the color drains from his face. “You wouldn’t dare. Your mother would never allow it,” Gill says with more emotion than expected.

“Maybe. But I have ways to convince her to raise the price.”

“You monster!” Gill’s getting way ahead of himself. But he can’t control it, whenever money is on the line, that’s where he takes his stand.

She gives out a strained laugh. “If you don’t want me to raise the price then you know what to do, right? In fact, if we manage to properly solve this case within a day then I might consider lowering your bill.”

Gill considers his options. He has more to lose and little to gain if he takes this, but at least he doesn’t run the risk of her increasing the bill. But he guesses that it depends on her mood though. “Fine, I’ll hear whatever mystery you have.” He takes a seat at the table. Nina does the same.

“You’re only going to have cup noodles?” She asks.

“Yup.” He drinks the soup first.

“Cheapskate. I just saw some paella on the fridge.”

“Saving that for tomorrow.”

“If you insist.” She shrugs.

“By the way, have you eaten?”

“Yeah, there’s no need for you to bother whether I’m being fed or not.”

“Hm.” He nods. “So, what’s this little mystery that you want my help so much?”

She straightens her seat. “Are you familiar with the urban legends around Vermillion High?”

“…? Not really. I only know the urban legends of Anima Public High.”

“Hm?” She puts her finger on her chin. “Alright, guess I have to explain one of them for you:

“In Vermillion High, we have a theater room that we only use whenever the drama club wants to put on a play. And in that room, there is a large mirror covered by a sheet of red cloth. Why is it covered in a sheet? Well, that’s because the mirror is believed to have a strange magical element to it: ‘Whoever looks in the mirror will see their doppelganger at school the next day, and if you see it then bad luck will descend upon you.’ No one knows if this urban legend is true or not but just to be sure, the staff covered the mirror and hit it at the back of the theater room, letting it stay there for has long as humanly possible.”

“Hm. Sounds more like a glorified ghost story than an urban legend,” Gill says.

“Aren’t most urban legends just glorified ghost stories?” Nina replies. “I think people just want to create rumors that are terrifying rather than interesting.”

“Maybe so. But then, what about it? Why are you telling me an urban legend?”

She grimaces. “Wow, you’re a little dense, aren’t you? I told you that there is a mystery, and I told you an urban legend. If you put one and the other together, what do you get?”

“…Ah!” It takes him a while to get it. “So, you’re saying that the urban legends are actually true?”

“I don’t know, but there have been incidents that have been caused by this ‘urban legend.’”

“Incidents?”

“Yup. Three so far: The first one was a student who fell down a flight of stairs, let’s call him Student A. He claimed to be running away from his doppelganger until he tripped and fell. The second one was a student who accidentally blew up the chemistry lab, let’s call her Student B. She’s still alive, and so is the other students, but she claimed that it happened because she saw her doppelganger that morning. And the third one is a student who fell from the third floor, let’s call him Student C. He’s still alive but he’s in intensive care. His friend claimed that they saw his doppelganger pushed him, that friend is student D.”

“So, three accidents, huh? And they’re all caused by that urban legend. What’s the school’s response?”

“Well, they plan on hiding the mirror somewhere where no one can find it.”

“Why not destroy it? Just in case that mirror really is cursed.”

“They can’t. it’s a gift from one of the shareholders of this school.”

“Then why not give it back to them?”

“They’ve been trying to but they can’t get a hold of him.”

“…”

“…”

An awkward silence fills the room. “…Doesn’t the whole thing sound like a horror movie?”

“It does, actually.”

“Seriously…” Gill rubs his head. “Three accidents. Does Luna know any of this?” He asks her.

“How should I know? She never showed up to class this week.”

“Really? The whole week?”

“Really. You don’t know?”

“I know that she has a bad habit of skipping classes but I can’t believe that she’s unaware of it.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Have you tried visiting The Nutcracker?”

“I did. But her dad said that Luna usually leaves in the morning and comes back at the evening. I asked him if he could pass the message to her but that Wednesday, and nothing happened.”

“…” What the hell is Luna doing? Where is she running off to? 

“Do you have any idea what she was doing last week?” Nina asks.

“Not much. We’ve only met on one day and that was for the murder incident involving Simon Verizon.”

“Oh yeah, that one! What happened to that case anyway? Did they find the culprit?” She puts her weight of the table.

“Not much happened. Marco Jender confessed to his crime and gave everyone a hint on who might the culprit be. Then after that, nothing. No new developments, no new theories. Almost as if that story was being swept under the rug.” In fact, it was after that incident that Luna never called him again. Is there a correlation between the two? Gill’s not sure.

“I see, I see.” She nods her head. “Well, there’s nothing we can do about that incident.” She brushes the topic aside. “What do you think of this mystery, Gill?”

“What do I think, you ask?” He puts his hand on the table. “I think that you have a pretty bad grasp on the difficulty of this case. You said that it’s simple, but from what I can see there are layers here that I need to think about!” He says in a voice much louder then he needs to.

“Woah…” She’s no longer slumping on the table, she’s standing straight on her seat.

“Ah! Sorry about that. I got a little heated there.” He rubs his face.

“…Don’t worry about it.” She gets herself comfortable. “You don’t really need to solve it if you find it that difficult.”

“…” Even if there are things that he can’t understand, and that it would be better if Luna would be the one to do it… “While that would be nice unfortunately I can’t do that. You gave me the details of the case and therefore, I am obligated to solve it.”

“Oh?” There’s sudden shift in her attitude. Gill can’t pinpoint what it is. “So, just because you’re obligated to do it, you have to continue no matter what?”

“Well, yeah, it’s not as intense as you’re trying to say it but that’s the gist of it,” he tells her.

“Hm.” She focuses her attention to him. “Wow, Phillip’s right on the nose, you really are weak against people. Whenever someone asks you to do something or tell them their life story you eat it right up.”

“Seriously…” Gill groans. “You really do love to talk about me, huh? First it was Ms. Meyner and now it’s Phillip Forms. What gives?”

“Hey! Don’t look at me. They’re the one who asked about you since that you don’t seem to talk to anybody since you started to live here.”

“Is that right?” Still, he surprised by how much attention he’s getting just by not doing anything. Is this the ‘new kid’ syndrome that Alder talks about at high school?

“That’s right. And it looks like you’ve met Ms. Meyner.”

“I did,” Gill answers.

“She’s strange, isn’t she?”

“Not really? She seems perfectly fine to me, although she’s a bit chatty.”

“She really is chatty. Last time, she went on an hour-long rant about the various mistakes that every math professors ever made, and tries to make it a lesson to everyone to never give up. Almost everyone fell asleep half-way through.”

“…Huh.” Right, Nina and Ms. Meyner are student and teacher in the same school. It makes sense that these two would know each other. He wonders what their relationship is like considering their strange circumstances.

Student and teacher who also happens to be the landlady and tenant.

“Anyway.” She stretches her arms. “We seem to have strayed too far from our original topic so let’s dial back a bit.”

“Yeah…” He almost forgot that he was eating dinner. Gill tries to finish what has already gone cold.

“Anything that you want to know, first?” She asks him.

“…” Gill considers what he should ask first. There are many things he wants to ask but they need to be relevant to that case. Luna told him before that he should different kind of questions as it might be possible that there would a clue among them. But where should he begin…? Ah, maybe that one. “Guess I should start with this: Does anyone believe in that urban legend?”

“Normally, they don’t believe in it. They just consider it a fun story to pass around too but ever since the events of this week that opinion has changed. Now the majority believed in it to certain degrees.”

“I can see why.”

“Now, what were you suppose to get from that question?” Nina asks.

“I just want to know if they believe the stories that the victims are telling them.”

“So, you think that they’re lying?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think they would get any benefits from lying but… I don’t believe that this is the work of anything supernatural.”

“So, you believe that there’s a logical explanation to all of this? Well, I do too but how are you going to approach this?”

“I don’t know yet,” Gill tells her. He finishes his cup. “But I’ll go through everything one at a time and see what I can come up.”

“Can’t wait to hear it. So, what else you want to know?”

“Well, the first thing I want to know are the accidents. When do they take place?” He wants to know if there’s anything he can from when they happen… and if he can apply that to the urban legends.

“Let’s see…” Nina slumps on the bed again. “The first one happened at Wednesday, the second one at Thursday, and the third one at Friday.”

“Wait. So, there were three accidents in a row, and all of them are due to the urban legend?”

“Yup. Why? Did you notice something?”

“Because if we take the urban legend at face value then it means that during the time the first accident happened there was somebody looking at the window, and the day after that, there was another person looking at the window the same day as the second accident. Is the theater room a popular place for students to visit? Why didn’t the staff securely lock the place when the first accident happened?” He doesn’t get it. Three in a row, something about it isn’t right.

“Eh…? Ah! I see, I see.” Nina rolls her head on the table. Her head looks like a tumbleweed filled with yarn.

“What is it?”

“I forgot to tell you something.” She gets up from the table. “But first: Are you in the assumption that these three accidents are separate from each other aside from the urban legend?”

“I mean, yeah, at least I think they are,” Gill tells Nina. “Why? Is there something more to it?”

“Well… let me give you some context: The theater room is well secured. There’s always a guard standing by to make sure that no one gets inside and even during the times when the drama club is using the theater room, there’s security on standby. However—”

“However?”

“However, on Monday. Four students have managed to avoid security and entered the theater room, apparently, they were doing it to prove that there’s no urban legend,” she explains. “Anyway, despite being as sneaky as they are, they still got caught and were brought to the faculty office. Because of how rare it was for somebody to get inside the theater room, news about it spread all over the school, and now everyone knows the four troublemakers.”

“…And those troublemakers were the ones that had those accidents happened to them?”

“Right on.”

“Doesn’t that mean that there’s going to be one more victim?”

“Maybe,” she says nonchalantly. Student D case was a little odd. He saw his doppelganger yet his friend was the one who fell.”

“Was that friend also the one who told them that they saw the doppelganger before it happened?”

“Yup.”

So, that’s how it is. But, just from hearing it alone, there’s already something that seems off. “Do you know when did they break inside the theater room?”

“Hmmmm.” She rubs her temple. “Let’s see…It was Monday. Yup, it was Monday when it happened.

“I see, so it was Monday.”

“Yeah, Monday.”

“…”

“…”

“…Then, doesn’t that mean that the rules of the urban legend have already been broken?”

“Yup.” She seems chill about it. “I noticed it too when the accidents happened one at a time.”

“Yeah…if we take the urban legend seriously and consider this the work of something supernatural then all of them should’ve had their accidents at Tuesday—but it happened one day later.”

“Then…” Nina starts. “Maybe the mirror arranged them based on who looked at the mirror first? The first one who looked at it was probably Student A so he went first, then it was Student B, then C, and finally, D.”

“That doesn’t explain the one-day skip, though.”

“Maybe the mirror didn’t consider that there would be multiple people looking at it.”

“Are you suggesting that the urban legends are true?”

“Maybe. But that’s one way to think about it. What about you? Did something click yet?”

“I don’t know. What I have is not enough.”

“Then what else do you want to know about?”

It didn’t take long for Gill to consider. “Let’s start with the first accident. Can you tell me the details surrounding that?”

“Well… I don’t know too much about it but from what I was told, Student A saw his doppelganger at the far end of the hallway. At first, he thought that his eyes were playing trick on him compounding on the fear of the doppelganger, so A tried his best to ignore it. But then, just as he turned away, the doppelganger started running towards him. Out of surprise, A started running away from him, thinking that the urban legend was true. Unfortunately, as he was going down the stairs to avoid his doppelganger, he made a misstep and fell down a flight of stairs, which leads to him going nonconscious.” Nina raises her hand. “…And that’s the story that Arnold told us when he woke up.”

“I see.” Gill stands up and throws the cup into the trash can. “You mentioned that other people saw the doppelganger, what did they say?”

“They don’t have too much info as they saw everything that happened from their classroom. But from what I heard, the person chasing A does look a bit like him. But they can’t tell for sure since that person was running.”

“Then what about when A fell? Did anyone see the doppelganger after that?”

“No one knows. They were too busy taking care of the person that just fell down the stairs.”

“I see.” The circumstances don’t offer much but he’s starting to get the gist of it. Gill walks to the fridge and opens it. “Do you want anything to drink? Don’t expect much though since all I have is water.”

“Sure, then I’ll have water that has been boiled for an hour, with cold ice on top of it, placed on the fridge for another hour, and served to me with a straw,” she explains without skipping a beat.”

“…I’ll just get you an ice water with a straw.” He fills her glass with water, put some ice then he puts a nice little straw that he unknowingly kept in the fridge. He did the same for his glass, only without the straw.

Gill places the glasses on the table. “What can you tell me about the second accident?”

“Only a little,” Nina says. “From what Student B said, she saw her doppelganger after her first subject, but unlike what happened with Arnold Faraday, her doppelganger didn’t chase after her so she managed to avoid it. Then, on her third class—her chemistry class, as she was carefully mixing the components, she saw her doppelganger outside of her classroom. At that moment, her bottle exploded, injuring her and a few other students that were nearby.” She takes a deep breath. “And that’s all there is to the second accident.”

“A question,” Gill speaks up.

“What it is?”

“Did anyone else saw the doppelganger?”

“I tried asking around. Brienne said that she saw her doppelganger on the third floor so I tried asking the students around if they’ve seen it. They haven’t.”

“I see.” Still, Gill’s surprised on how much Nina’s investigating this. She must really be worried about what’s going on. He finds that kind of comforting to hear.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?” She crosses her arms with a shudder.

“Eh?”

“You were giving me a very intense stare,” she says with a low voice. “Are you perhaps falling in love with me? Sorry! But I don’t think that mom would like it if I’m dating a tenant.”

“…No, it’s nothing like that. I’m just surprised by how much you’re taking this seriously. I thought that you would just wait and let Luna do the rest.”

“Why wouldn’t I take this seriously? Your perception of me must’ve been a lot different if that’s what you think of me.” She corrects. “But you’re right about the Luna part. I was originally thinking about waiting for Luna but considering how long her absents are, I decided to gather information for her.”

“But then, you decided to come to me instead.”

“A maiden’s heart is not something to be underestimated, Gill. I feel like it might explode if I try to talk to her.”

“Aren’t you idolizing Luna bit too much? Sure, I can see why she’s great but she’s just a normal person like you and me. Just talk to her, and you’ll what kind of person she is yourself.”

Nina gives off a dry laugh. “I can’t believe I’m getting advice from Mr. ‘I didn’t start any conversation with anybody for a month.’ And don’t talk to me about idolizing, didn’t you call everybody nice even though to never bothered to interact with them?”

Wait, what? “Where did you hear that?”

“In your room, last week. I just happen to hear it when I was on my way to school.”

Oh, that was when Alder barged in. “Ah, so you were eavesdropping,” Gill says.

“It was really hard to not eavesdrop when you two are so loud.” She groans.

Gill fills up his glass with more water, avoiding to comment what she said. Although, Gill is sure that he and Alder didn’t make too much noise when they were talking. How did she notice? “Anyway, let’s continue. Can you tell me about the third accident?”

“Sure.” She plays with her hair. “From what Student D told me, he saw his doppelganger at Friday morning. Then, around noon, as the two were having lunch on the third-floor classroom, D saw his doppelganger pushed Student C of the window.”

“Was there anyone in the classroom with them?”

“Nope. The two boys made use of an unused classroom.”

“How did he fell off? How big is your school’s window?”

“You didn’t see?” Nina says in surprise. “We have a sliding window, it’s very wide… which means that it’s very possible for anyone to jump of it.”

“I see…” Gill’s starting to get it now. It sounds stupid but this is the best that he can think of. “Although… I have to ask: Does anyone believe the story of the third accident?”

“The majority does.” She groans.

“Wait, seriously? How do they not see how much an obvious lie that is?”

“Probably because to many people, Student D is a very trustworthy guy. They don’t see him doing something like that. And the school was still shaken by having two accidents in a row so at that point, so at that point, a connection as already been established.”

“Pattern recognition, you mean?”

“Yup.” She sounds disappointed. “And I’m not surprised too. the urban legend did say that bad luck will befall upon them. So, it doesn’t mean that Student D would be directly affected by it.”

“But, considering that Student C was the one who fell, do we consider that as his bad luck too?”

“Probably. I can see why it would be too.”

“…” Pattern recognition. Ever since the first accident, a pattern has been established. The four students who sneaked inside the theater room to look in the mirror all had something terrible happened to them. Each in an order, each in a pattern, even if there is nothing supernatural going on, there’s still a pattern to it.

But… with this pattern, Gill has good theory on what happened to each of them. Now, all he must do is say it. And see what happens. “I think I have a good idea what happened.”

“Oh? That was quick. With barely any info, you said that you have a good idea on what happened? How sure are you?”

“I don’t know,” Gill answers honestly. “But, even if I get it wrong I’ll just continue until the truth is revealed.”

“Hey! That’s one of Luna’s lines! You can’t do that!”

“I’m her assistant, so I guess I have some kind of right to borrow some of her lines.”

“…Fine!” She pouts as she leans back on her chair. She looks grumpy. “So, let’s hear it? The theories created by the White Rabbit’s assistant.”

Gill nods. He fills his glass and Nina’s glass with more water. “Let’s start with the first accident: At this point, we can confirm that this ‘doppelganger’ is real if we take the words of Student A and the bystanders to heart. So, the question we have now is: Who or what is the doppelganger? If we remove the supernatural then there’s only one conclusion… the doppelganger is in fact, Student A’s twin brother…!”

“…”

“…”

“…Student A doesn’t have a twin brother. He’s an only child.” Nina is looking at him. She looks so disappointed. She has the face of someone who put their fate unto somebody, only for them to crush it under their feet. “And besides, if A does have a twin then he shouldn’t have run away when he sees him.” She sighs.

“Ah… I see… I seriously thought twin siblings would be a factor in this one,” Gill says. “Then, if it’s not a twin then the only conclusion that I can think of is that the doppelganger is just an imposter.”

“An imposter?” She says in disbelief. “If the doppelganger he saw was just somebody pretending to be him then how does that work? You need to be near blind to mistake somebody to be your imposter.”

“Well, let’s look at it from Student A’s point of view: He might be a bit paranoid whether the urban legend is real or not so he might be surprised when he saw somebody looking like him, which clouds is ability to perceive the imposter—And also, the imposter doesn’t need to look exactly like him. All they need to do is imitate his key features and stand at the end of the hallway where Arnold can’t see him clearly. Then, the imposter running at him could possibly be just them trying to panic Arnold Faraday, giving him less time to notice that they were a fake.”

“I see your point but what about the bystanders? They were probably calm when they saw Arnold Faraday getting chased. Why did they say that it was a doppelganger?”

“Well, remember what they said? They said that the doppelganger was running so they haven’t taken a good look at them.”

“That doesn’t explain why them assume that it was a doppelganger.”

“They probably didn’t even think that it was a doppelganger. For all they know, it might just a student chasing after Arnold Faraday. It was only after Arnold told his story that the bystanders said that they saw his doppelganger.”

“So, they weren’t sure but they agreed to what he saw?”

“Yeah, and that move kick-started a bunch of stuff too—”

“Before we get into that,” Nina interrupts. “Do you have any idea on who might’ve done it?”

“I don’t. For all I know, it might just be somebody wanting to play a prank on him,” Gill says.

“I see…Then, let’s continue.”

“Right. As I was saying, because of that incident, everyone now believes the urban legend—and that leads to some complications… one of them being that they can use that as an excuse to avoid trouble.”

“…What do you mean?” Nina looks at him curiously.

“I’m saying that Student B didn’t see her doppelganger at all. She just said that to avoid getting in trouble.”

Nina immediately places her hand in her mouth, deep in thought. ‘I see, I see. I get it. It would be bad for her if she outright admitted that she partially destroyed the chemistry lab and injured a few students—it won’t fly with her. So, she used her status as somebody who’ve seen the mirror to say that it was her bad luck. And most of us believed her, because of the incident that happened yesterday.”

“That’s right.”

“Although, there’s still something that’s bothering me.”

“What is it?”

“The chemicals in the chemistry lab are heavily controlled. Which means that it would be impossible for us to create something explosive.”

Is that right? Then… if it’s supposed to be impossible for them to create an explosion that would mean that… “If that’s the case then I suspect that there was foul play.”

“So, you’re saying that someone tried to sabotage Student B?”

“Probably. And if it turns out to be the case then they’ve already gotten a head start since she went with the story of the doppelganger.”

“Hm, in other words, it would be very difficult to catch them.”

“Maybe so, unless the staff starts to notice that something is off and they investigate.”

“I don’t think they would, they seriously believe that it’s the work of the urban legend.” She shrugs. “I think they are trying to push this whole thing under the rug.”

Well, anyone would try to sweep this under the rug, considering what happened. But that doesn’t mean they should, three students got hurt. The last they can do is to try to do something to help them. “…Speaking of which, what does Ms. Meyner think of this?”

“She probably has different thoughts then the rest of the teachers but they probably agree to just say it was the work of the urban legend.”

“I see.” So, they fell into its trap too?” The convenience of blaming something that doesn’t exist. That sucks. “Anyway, please remember that everything I’m saying so far are just theories. You don’t have to immediately believe everything I say. You don’t even need to believe them. If you want, you can just think of everything I’m saying as just ramblings of a conspiracy theorist.”

“I-I know that!” She yells. “Geez, you don’t think highly of yourself, do you?”

“They say that being humble is one of keys to world peace.” Says no one ever. But he likes to think that it is.

“You’re not being humble. You’re being self-deprecating.”

“…” Gill decides to not comment on that. “Anyway, let’s move on to the next topic.”

“Oh? Changing the topic, are you? That’s fine. I have more then enough time in the world to beat that attitude out of you.”

“…” Oh dear, now look what he has done. He has gotten another person who wants to get themselves involved with his life. His life. The life of a puppet with strings. The life of a sack of shit with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He bets that she only came to him because he’s Luna’ assistant, there’s nothing more to it. She didn’t come for his merits, she came because of who he’s associated with it. There’s nothing more than that.

“…” Gill closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, as deep as he needs to be. He needs to be calm down… and make sure to not let his brain go out of control.

_“My brain really needs to shut up,”_ he thinks. He opens his eyes, Nina Ceval is still sitting on the table. Nina Ceval is still in one piece. Nina Ceval is not dead.

That’s good. That’s good.

He sighs. “Right, the third accident.” He has his composure back. Time to continue. “We can conclude that Student D was the one who pushed Student C. He probably said that it was his doppelganger who pushed him just in case Student C tries to testify that it was he who pushed.”

“That’s the most reasonable theory so far,” Nina says. “But then we have to ask: Why?”

“Hey, don’t look at me, I don’t know any of these people.” Gill waves his hand.

“I know, I was just talking to myself.” She smiles. “That pretty much covers everything, huh?”

“Yeah, there was little to go off but this is the best theories that I can make so far.”

“I see.”

“I have a question, though.” Something’s off about this. Nina doesn’t need him for any of this.

“What is it?”

“Well, first things first, you were right. this is a little bit easy.”

“I mean, I told you, didn’t I?”

“You did. And that’s the problem: You could’ve solved this by yourself. You don’t need me. If you have given yourself a week to see through this then would’ve come to these conclusions by yourself,” he explains to Nina.

“…” She looks away from him, then she drinks. “…Even if I did to that, it’s not like no one will believe me…” She puts the glass down.

“…”

“Everyone there has been relying on her so much to the point where they don’t accept other people’s theories—even if what they’re saying is true.”

“So, that’s why you come to me?”

She nods. “Because you happen to be her assistant, I’m sure they’ll take your word better then mine.” She takes something from under the table… it’s a voice recorder.

“You’ve been recording our conversation?” This is unexpected. He didn’t notice that there was a recorder under the table. She got him good.

“Yup, sorry about that. But I fear that you will say no if I told you that I’m recording this.” She makes a nervous smile.

“…I definitely would’ve said no… but, it’s too late.” He has no choice to accept it as it is. “I didn’t know that the situation in Vermillion was that bad.”

“It is. But instead of trying to fix the situation they’re just waiting around, hoping that this whole thing will just blow over.” She clicks her tongue.

“…” He doesn’t have anything to comment on this. He doesn’t have anything to add to this—which shouldn’t be a surprise since he’s an outsider to their situation.

Nina gets up from her seat. “Anyway, thanks for listening to the mystery. I’ll be sure to put your theories to good use.”

“Remember that they’re not facts, only theories. I wouldn’t want any lynching going on because of what I said.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll keep that in mi—”

“AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!”

An ear-piercing scream. That was the scream filled with horror… and it came from outside. “What happened?!”

Without missing a beat, and without losing her composure, Nina opens the door and immediately runs out of the room. Gill follows her but not before picking up a nearby spatula for self-defense.

Once they are in hallway, they observe their surroundings. To their left, Ms. Meyner and Ms. Skelter went out of their room. They look just as surprised as they are. And to their right…is Martha, their housekeeper. It’s hard to see from this distance but it’s very noticeable that her complexion is very pale.

She’s looking at something…

She’s looking at something inside that room—who’s door is wide open.

“…” A faint rotten stench fills his nostrils, even a small amount of it would be enough to make him puke.

_“No way…”_ Gill knows what lies beyond that door. This is something that he has seen many times already. This is something that he had no choice but to encounter by staying with Luna. “…Stay here,” he tells Nina.

“Wh—”

“Please!” He begs. As much as possible, he doesn’t want anyone to see the mess that awaits him.

He runs to the door to see what’s inside…

“…”

“…”

“…”

…Can a head bend like that? No, it’s impossible. It’s impossible. It’s impossible. No human can move their head in a 360-degree angle. No human can turn their head backwards.

Because if they do that, then their spine will break.

Because if they do that, then they’ll die.

And… the one who have met their end… was Gregor Bartolome, he’s laying on the ground. His body is lying on its chest but his face is looking at the ceiling… with his mouth wide open, and his eyes are completely white.

This is sick. He feels sick. This is sick. He feels sick. This is sickening! His stomach turns, it feels like he’s going to puke, he can’t smell anything other then the decay of his body.

The bile is rising from his stomach, to his throat, and finally his mouth.

“Uhp!” He closes the door and runs to nearest window and finally lets out the bile leaking from his mouth.

This is strange. This is strange. This is strange.

This is disgusting. This is abnormal. This is immoral.

This is something that doesn’t warrant such a reaction so why? Why? Why? Why? Why he can’t help but smile?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things seems to be picking up now, huh? if you enjoy this series, why don't you share it to anyone else who might be interested.


	9. Case 2 Chapter 4: The Case of Mr. Bartolome

004

/1

“…Here, have some water.”

“…Thanks.” He takes the glass and immediately empties its contents, in attempt to mitigate to burn on his throat.

“…” Everyone has gathered here in lobby: Nina Ceval and Phillip Forms are sitting on one end of the couch, while Diana is comforting Martha. The ones who are not accounted for: Helen Skelter, John, and Mrs. Ceval, are busy trying to contact the police, so far, they haven’t come back. It makes him worried. Whoever did this to Mr. Bartolome might still be here.

…No, he doesn’t need to worry. John is with them, if things goes awry then he’ll bail them out.

But still… what the hell was that? What did he see in there? Mr. Bartolome’s body…lying on the floor…his head…has been forced backwards…his white eyes…looking at the ceiling.”

“…!” Bile is rising from his stomach again. He shouldn’t think about it, for now.

Gill puts his hand on his pocket, and confirms that his phone his not there. He must’ve left it back at his room.

That sucks. That means he can’t contact Luna right now, as Mrs. Skelter told all of them to wait in the lobby until the police arrived.

Well, even if he did manage to call her, it’s not like she can do anything about it. He’s sure that Luna’s dad won’t let her go out in this weather.

And speaking of weather, ever since it’s started it’s still hasn’t let up at all. It’s still a continuous downpour. If this keeps up them it won’t be long before it reaches the lobby.

There are footsteps coming closer, and seconds later, someone makes their entrance—It’s Helen Skelter. Her face looks disappointed.

“So? What happened?” Nina is the first one to ask.

“The police are coming, but…” Ms. Skelter winces. “It’s going to take a while. Because of the weather, they won’t get here immediately, they didn’t even bother to give us the exact time they will be coming here.”

“What? So, we’re just gonna sit and wait for them?” Phillip raises his voice. “What if whoever did this is still in The Concrete? We’re sitting ducks here. We’ll be killed.”

“Yeah!” Ms. Meyner is the next one. “And what about Gregor’s body? Don’t tell me we’re just going to leave it there?”

“We are, sadly,” Ms. Skelter responds.

“It’s better if we don’t touch that room,” Gill speaks up. “They would probably like it if not too many people have touch it.”

“I agree.” Nina raises her hand. “Let’s just leave it alone.”

Everyone nods in agreement. Gill observes their faces, while it’s hard for him to tell what they’re thinking, he can tell that their faces are mix of worry and fear.

“By the way, where’s mom?” Nina asks Ms. Skelter.

“She’s arguing with the police over at the phone. It might take a while. Don’t worry, John’s with her.”

“Oh…ok.”

Silence covers the lobby, with only the sound of rain and thunder to accompany them. Ms. Skelter flinches when it cracks.

“So…what happened to him? How did he die?” Ms. Meyner asks, breaking the silence.

The ones to didn’t see the body to their eyes to Martha, who refuses to answer, so they focus their attention to Gill.

“You want to know that badly?” He asks her. Looks like what he did was enough to deter them from checking the room… but it looks like it wasn’t enough to stop their curiosity.

Ms. Meyner slowly nods, then Nina nods, then Ms. Skelter nods, then Phillip shrugs.

“…” Gill scratches his cheek. “…Well, to put it in the least gruesome way possible…his neck and spine was broken. His head has been twisted to the degree where it’s looking backwards.” He tells them.

“…How did that happen?” Ms. Skelter asks calmly. She must have nerves of steel to keep herself together considering the circumstances.

“I don’t know. I didn’t see anything that would do something like that.” Gill replies.

“Maybe the killer did it with their bare hands,” Nina suggests.

“That’s impossible,” Phillip Forms retorts. “No ordinary person could do that. They need to at least be as well built as a martial artist or a special forces agent if they want to do that. And even then, it requires a lot of effort. That’s not something someone would normally do to kill someone.”

He raises some interesting points. So then: How did he get neck broken? How much force is required to do something like that?

“…” The only way he’ll find out is if check the room himself. But it’s risky.

“…Thinking about this is making me anxious,” Phillip Forms mouths off. “Does the police really expect us to wait here until they get their ass moving?! Do they know that we might have a murderer here!?”

Everyone went silent. There’s a certain atmosphere forming around here. it’s ‘unanimous agreement.’ Even without saying anything, even without confirming it, they all have the same thought—and that goes for Gill too.

“While I understand your concerns, we have no other choice but to wait.” Two people enter the lobby, one of them is John, and the other is a woman in her late fifties, her black hair is already starting to gray and she wears a green cardigan.

This woman is none other than Mrs. Ceval, the owner of The Concrete. The stone-cold landlord.

“How did it go, mom?”

“It didn’t go well. We really have to wait.” She sighs then she gives them three fingers. “Three hours. That’s how long they’ll probably get here.”

“Three hours?!” They all say in unison.

“That’s correct. Although, what they’ve said is just an estimate. For all we know, it might take an hour or two. But that depends on the weather--”

Just as she says that, there’s another crack of thunder.

“—Which unfortunately, doesn’t look like it will let up anytime soon.”

“What are we going to do now?” Nina asks.

“All of us will wait here until the police arrives. If we stick together then whoever killed Mr. Bartolome will be more reluctant to go after us…”

…It looks like she wants to say more but something seems to be holding her back.

“A question,” Phillip Forms raises his hand. “What would happen if one of us wants to return to our room or go to the bathroom?”

“You can go, if you want. But make sure that you have somebody accompanying you and that you don’t take too long. If you take longer then an hour, then we can assume that you’re dead unless proven otherwise. Is that clear?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah.”

“Sure.”

“Make sure to stick to each other’s side. And make sure to come back together.”

Everyone nods to Mrs. Ceval’s warning.

“…” Ah, what a sturdy plan she has built. It’s perfectly made for the situation at hand. Gill’s surprised that she has thought of it at this short amount of time. Must be a sign of her experience.

So, as gratitude for her coming up with a sturdy plan. Gill is willing to be the first test subject. “Excuse me.” Gill raises his hand.

“What is it?” Mrs. Ceval turns her attention to Gill.

“I need to go back to my room. I left my phone there and I want to call somebody,” he explains.

“…Is that so?” She raises an eyebrow. “Then, are there any volunteers?”

“Me!” Nina raises her hand.

“Absolutely not.” Instant denial. “Anybody else?”

There’s silence. Nobody’s speaking up and nobody’s raising their hand. If that happens then he’s not allowed to leave here—

“I’ll do it.”

Gill turns his head to see Ms. Skelter raising her hand.

“It won’t take long, right?” she directs her question to Gill.

“…Yeah, it won’t.”

“Then let’s get going.”

/2

Gill makes his way to his room, with Ms. Skelter right behind him.

This formation is fine, if something happened to one of them then the other one can run once the chance is open.

“…Hey, are you ok?” Ms. Skelter asks from behind.

“Hm? Yeah, I’m fine. Why’d you ask?”

“Well…I mean you just saw a dead body. So, I just checking to see if you’re you know…fine?”

“…Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” He tries to assure her, even if sight of his dead body is still fresh on his mind.

“I see…” there’s a hint of melancholy in her voice.

“What about you? Are you doing okay?” He wonders how she’s taking it. As far as he knows, she knows Mr. Bartolome much longer then he does, so even though she doesn’t see the body, his passing might’ve had some impact on her.

“…I’m good. Thanks for asking.”

They’ve made it to his door and enters his room. It’s still the same as he left it. He walks to his bed and picks up his phone, then he turns to Ms. Skelter.

Ms. Skelter replies with a shrug. “Sorry, can’t leave you alone. We’ve got to keep a close watch on each other.”

“Uh-huh. So, do you mind if you ignore what I’m going to say over at the phone?” He’s not sure if it’s a good idea for her to hear what he’s going to say. She might get the wrong idea.

“…” But there’s nothing he can do about it. So, he might as well go for it and see what happens. He scrolls to her number and makes the call.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Yeah? what’s up, Gill?” Luna Verno speaks on the other side of the phone.

“Hey, Luna. Where are you right now?”

“I’m at my house. Where else? I can’t go anywhere because of this storm.”

“I see.”

“So? Out with it. Why did you call me? I’m sure it’s not something as trivial as knowing where I am.” Even if he can’t see her he can tell that she’s smiling.

“…There has been a murder. Here, at The Concrete.”

“…Is that so? Can you tell me what happened?”

Gill explains to her what happened. Unfortunately, because of how everything went, the information that he gives her is less than substantial. The only info that he gives her are the details surrounding when they found the body.

“…What am I supposed to do with this?” Is her reply.

“Sorry, but everything happened so fast, I never got the chance to properly investigate.”

“Hm.” She lets out a huff. “Still, this set up is quite peculiar.”

“What do you mean?”

“So far, everything looks like a standard set up of classic murder mystery: A dead body in a room, a locked in environment, and a storm…and a multitude of potential suspects. What an amusing set up.”

“I don’t think there’s anything amusing about this.” He chides at her. And potential suspects…does she believe that one of them done it? No, impossible. They don’t look like they could kill. Could they?

“I know, I know.” She yawns. “Anyway, you still haven’t given me a reason why’d you called me.”

“What? Yes, I did. I told you that there was murder.”

“You did. But what about it? What am I supposed to do with this? Do you want me to solve this mystery in the comfort of my own home? While that does sound fun, you barely gave me enough material to work with so that doesn’t count…”

“…”

“Ah-hah. But maybe that isn’t it. You want me to come over there and solve this mystery myself? That’s nice and all, you do know that I can’t go out right now, right?”

“…Yeah, I know. In fact, I’m glad that you’re staying put for once.” He answers.

“So, out with it. Don’t keep me waiting: Why did you call me?”

There’s nothing that gets past her, huh? “I want your opinion: What do you think I should do next?”

“…What do you think…you should do?” There’s something off in the way she says it. Gill can’t put his finger on it, but it’s strangely unnerving. “Why are you asking me that?”

“Well…you’ve always been the smarter one, and you’re more familiar with scenarios like this…so I want to ask you what I should do next.”

“…Tch.” She clicks her tongue. “Listen—”

“Hm?”

“…” Silence. Did the line disconnect?

“Hello? Are you still there?” Gill asks.

“…Yeah. Still here.” She answers. “And considering what you said…I’ll only give you this: Considering your situation, I think it’s best That you should try to solve this mystery while you’re in this closed off situation.”

“…So, you want me to solve this by myself? Why?” This is unexpected. He thought that she would ask him to gather info of what’s going on or possibly check the crime scene. But to have him solve the mystery by himself? He can’t do it.

“…Well, it’s just a hunch, but I don’ think the anyone will be able to catch the culprit once the storm clears. So, while the storm is still there. It’s the best time to investigate.” She says with certainty.

“That’s not what I mean!” He raises his voice. He didn’t mean too. He didn’t mean too. “I…I can’t do something like this by myself. What if I messed up? What if I make things worse. What if…I ended blaming the wrong person,” he whispers the last part. He hopes she didn’t hear it.”

“Hm? Is there somebody with you?”

“Yes. If anyone wants to go anywhere, it has to be by pairs.”

“Right… you mentioned that. And who was it that set up that plan?” Luna asks.

“It was Mrs. Ceval.”

“Oh? The landlord?” She laughs. “While I haven’t met her, I can tell that she has a good grasp of the situation.” Another laugh.

Always calm, always cheerful, always calculated. If Luna is thrust into the same situation as him then she would’ve already done something like that. Given that it might take three hours for the police to arrive, she would use this opportunity to solve this case before the police arrives.

…But, he can’t do anything like that. How could he? He doesn’t have any of the skills and traits that will help him do this.

“Gill.” Luna speaks up.

“…Yeah?” He replies.

“How long have you been with me?” she asks.

“A year,” he answers.

“And how many cases have we worked together?”

“I don’t know, I lost count.”

“It was fifteen. And in ten of those cases, your contributions helped me get to the truth. With the most recent one being the Simon Verizon murder case.”

Gill understands where she’s going with this. “Luna, there’s a difference between contributing and solving a case. I only contributed little to our cases, it was you who did most of the work.”

“I know that. But, I can tell. You’ve been watching me. You’ve seen how I do things. So, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that you’ll be able to perform just as well me?” She says with confidence.

“Luna, I’m not you. There are things that you can see that I can’t. and the things that you see is perfect for this.”

“While what you said is true, the same thing applies to you too. There are things you can see that I can’t. Trust in it, trust yourself and you’ll do fine.”

“But—”

“No buts! She shouts from the other side. “It’s about time that you learn to trust yourself. Use you head. Try to make sense of the situation and find the truth.”

“If you think that it’s best to wait for the police then it should be your call. If you think that you should gather info and report everything to me…that should be you call to. And if you think that it’s best to solve this mystery by yourself then once again—your call.”

“…” He doesn’t know what to say to this. Is she putting her faith in him because she can’t do anything about it? Is her trust him stem from true trust? Or something else? Is he starting to doubt the words of someone he knows for a long time?

“Gill,” Luna speaks up. “While I did say you should solve this case by yourself, you don’t have to do it alone. If you feel like you’ve hit a roadblock then don’t be afraid to ask me. I’ll give you my thoughts about it.”

“Right…sure.” So, it’s up to him, huh? It’s his turn to play the role of the detective now? Can he do it? Does he have what it takes?

“Hmph!” Sounds like Luna takes Gill’s response as a yes. “Now, do you have any other questions?”

“I do.” Gill replies. “Where were you the past few days? Did you know that there was an incident at your school?”

“…I didn’t know. I was busy. There was something that I need to do.”

“…Does that have anything to do Simon Verizon’s murder?”

“Kind of.” She answers.

“…You should have a look,” Gill tell her. “It’s a bit of a mess.”

“What happened over there anyway?” She asks.

“Find out for yourself. We’re only given an hour to explore so I can’t give you all the details.”

“Hm. I see.”

“…”

“…”

An awkward silence fills the air. He has nothing more to say to her, and she probably does too but he doesn’t know how to end the conversation. Maybe he should just go for the standard goodbye? “So…uh…bye?”

“Yeah…bye.” And with that, the call ended.

Gill puts his phone in his pocket and turns to Ms. Skelter, she’s reading one of his magazines.

“I’m done.” He tells her.

“Hm? Yeah, I know.” She puts the magazine back in the pile. “Are you ready to leave?”

“Yeah. There’s nothing more for me to do here.” Gill went out of his room with Ms. Skelter following behind. “So…were you listening?”

She quickens her pace and walks by his side. “What a strange question. Of course, I was listening, it was hard not to.”

“Oh…” He should’ve expected that. They were in the same room after all.

“But, I won’t say anything about it nor will I tell anybody about it. Cuz it kind of sounds like it’s your problem.”

“…Thanks…” At least, Ms. Skelter won’t say anything about it.

_“Trust yourself. Use you head. Try to make sense of the situation and find the truth.”_

“…You have too much faith in me, Luna.” If there’s one thing that Gill is very sure of, is that he can’t trust himself at all.

They make their way back to the lobby, all the while keeping track of any strange movements or silhouette, if they ever saw one. It’s a good thing that all the lights in the hallway are on. It would make thing easier if things go awry.

“Hey.” Ms. Skelter karate chops him in the back.

“What’s up?”

“I’ve got a question for you. And don’t tell anyone about this, alright?”

“You’re already keeping one of my secrets so it would only be fair if I keep one of yours: What is it?”

The two of them stops and rest at one of the windows. Ms. Skelter lets some rain fall on her hand. “Who do think killed Mr. Bartolome?” she asks him. “…Do you think it was somebody from outside of The Concrete? Or do you think it might be one of us?”

“…” One of us…that’s a possibility Gill hopes is not true, but it’s something that can’t be shaken off that easily. “I don’t know. It’s possible that the assailant came from the outside since John wasn’t stationed at the guard house. He was at the lobby.”

“But even if the culprit managed to enter the front gate because John wasn’t there that doesn’t explain how did they manage to enter. The only entrance The Concrete has is the one at the lobby.”

“Hm. But, don’t we have a fire exit? The one at the right wing? Do you think the culprit used that to get inside?”

Ms. Skelter shakes her head. “Me and John checked. The fire exit is secured. No one could’ve got in.”

Gill puts his hand on the window. “Hm. If you can’t enter front door and you can’t enter the fire exit then where else you can go?”

“The window?” Ms. Skelter suggests.

“…While that’s a great idea, I’m not sure how they can do that. There’s nothing for them to tie too, and I’m sure that John would’ve noticed somebody entering. The only windows that we have here are the ones facing the city.”

“Hm. True.”

They stop resting and make their way downstairs, where they hear a rather loud conversation coming from the lobby.

“Don’t you see what’s going on right now? Do you really think that this is a good time for you to be selfish right now?” One says.

“I’m not being selfish! I’m doing the right thing!” Another says.

“And what part of it IS the right thing?”

It sounds like Mrs. Ceval and Nina are having an argument. Gill turns to Ms. Skelter, who only shakes her head. “…We should go inside, regardless.”

Gill nods, and the two enter the lobby.

“…”

Ah. They’re still going at it, and it looks like Mrs. Ceval is gaining the upper hand. Every argument that Nina tries to bring up are being systematically crushed by Mrs. Ceval.

Gill turns his eyes to what the other are doing: Phillip Forms is slouching on the couch, trying to zone out the conversation, Ms. Meyner is looking at the argument with a disturbed look, and John and Maria are stopping Nina from getting too close to her mom…what a nightmare.

During her argument, Nina unfortunately spots Gill and Ms. Skelter. “…You’re here.”

“Welcome back you two,” Ms. Ceval says in a calm tone. I hope you two haven’t run into any problems.

“We haven’t.” Ms. Skelter answers. “All he did was call one of his friends.”

“I see…well, enough of that. Glad to know that nothing happened.” Her attention then turn to her daughter. “And as for your you, I don’t want to hear any more, alright?”

“Tch!” she turns her Gill. “Hey! You think you could lend a hand?” She turns her eyes to him.

“…You mean, in convincing your mom to let you investigate that room?” Gill asks.

“Please don’t help her. We both know that it’s a horrible idea.” Mrs. Ceval sighs.

“It’s not! Don’t worry about it. I’m sure that we’ll be able to catch the culprit by then!”

“And what if you don’t? Is it really that difficult to wait for the police to arrive? I know you’re frustrated about what happened to Mr. Aguinaldo but there’s nothing we can do about it. All we have to do is wait the professionals to arrive.” Mrs. Ceval says in a strict tone.

“Tch!” Nina lets out another click of as she tries to storm out of the lobby… only to be stopped by John who grabs her by shoulder. His large hands ensure that Nina won’t be able to escape that easily.

“God damn it…”

John can only look at her with sympathetic glance as he carefully drags her back to the couch. Gill and Ms. Skelter do the same, as it looks like there’s no way they can convince Mrs. Ceval to let them check that room.

/3

An hour has passed.

Even as everyone is already comfortable with their situation, there’s still a heavy atmosphere. Something that Gill can’t still pinpoint why. He thought that this atmosphere is born from seeing one of their roommates killed. But this feels different. Even though they are not saying anything--they’re all glaring holes at each other, they’re judging each other’s every move.

“Ah…” Gill understands what this feeling is.

It’s distrust. Right now, they’re all viewing each other as potential suspects.

“…” This is bad. If this atmosphere keeps going like this, then all it takes is one misstep for an argument to explode in the lobby.

Suddenly, Phillip Forms gets up from the couch. “I’ll be going to my room. There’s something that I want to get.”

“I see.” Mrs. Ceval nods. “Is there anyone who wants to accompany him?”

Nina looks like she’s about to raises her hand but she stops when Mrs. Ceval glares at her. Other then that, it seems that no one wants to volunteer for Phillip Forms, which means that he won’t be able to leave.

Gill feels a bit bad for him so he raises his hand. “I’ll accompany him.”

Mrs. Ceval raises her brow, but she doesn’t seem to mind. “Alright. Well, you’re free to go. Make sure to come back, alright?”

“Yes.”

“Sure…”

Gill accompanies Phillip Forms as they leave the lobby. There footsteps are being overmined by the downpour of rain. Even now, is still hasn’t let up.

“Out of everyone in that room, I never expected that it would be you who would join me,” Phillip Forms says as he glances at him.

“Were you expecting somebody else?” Gill asks.

“On the contrary, out of everyone in that room. I wanted you to be the one to raise your hand. But, I thought that something like that wouldn’t happen so I erased that idea.”

“But it happened.”

“I know, what a surprise that was. Suffice to say, today seems to be my lucky day…aside from the murder, of course.”

It didn’t take long for them to reach Phillip Forms room. He opens the door and turns to Gill. “Well? Don’t just stand there. Come inside, unless the doll is waiting for my permission to move too.”

The word “doll” is enough to get a reaction out of Gill as he stomps to Phillip Forms’ room.

“…” Gill takes the time of observe Phillip Forms’ room.

Structurally, it’s the same as Gill’s and Ms. Skelter’s room but with a twist that fits its occupant’s taste. Like for instance, his room has a giant computer. It has three screens, one of those LED keyboards, and those shiny CPU’s. While Gill isn’t well versed in a computer’s hardware. He can at least tell that what Phillip Forms have in his room is no ordinary computer.

Other than that, what he has in his room is like Gill’s room, which is not much. Just the bare necessities needed to survive.

Phillip Forms lies down on his bed.

“What are we looking for?” Gill asks.

“That depends on how this conversation goes.” He yawns.

“Conversation?”

“Basically, I want to investigate Mr. Bartolome’s room.”

Gill raises an eyebrow. “You want to investigate?”

Phillip Forms smirk. “Don’t look so surprised. I’m not doing this because I want to catch the culprit, I just want to confirm something.”

“And that something is?”

He shrugs. “Whether or not this murder was done by somebody outside, or one of us.”

“I see. And you’re not really interested in finding out who it is.”

“Of course. That’s the professional’s job.”

“So, where do I fit into this. You said that you were hoping that I was the one who’ll accompany you.”

“Simple.” Phillip Forms get up from his bed. “I’m asking for your cooperation. I know that you’re the White Rabbit’s assistant so I’m confident in your ability to deduce this situation.

He knows about Gill too. “How long have you known about that?”

“Quite a long time, actually. I was aware since last year that the White Rabbit is being accompanied by a young man. What a surprise it was to find him living under the same roof as me.”

“While that’s nice for you, what makes you so sure that I’ll help you.”

“You’re not going to investigate?” He says in surprise. “I thought the White Rabbit’s assistant would be interested in this case but it looks like he’ll only get involve when his boss says so.”

“…” For some reason, the words he’s saying is getting on Gill’s nerves. But he shouldn’t jump the gun. After all, he hasn’t even decided if he wanted to investigate this murder. He’s not confident that he’ll be able to solve it the same way that Luna does.

“Say, aren’t you curious about what happened to Mr. Bartolome?”

“While it’d be a lie to say that I’m not. That doesn’t mean that I would.”

“Really? Even though you two are close friends?” Phillip Forms tilts his head.

“And where did you get the idea that me and him are friends?” Gill counters.

“Are you saying that you’re not?”

“I mean, well…Of course I’m not. I’ve only met him for a day. That’s not enough time for us to be friends.” Gill explains.

“Oh? So that’s what you think?” Phillip Forms raises his brow. “Well, it doesn’t matter to him. The old man seems to think that everyone is his friend.”

“That’s sweet,” Gill comments.

“I think it’s dumb. I’m surprised that he wasn’t taken advantage of.”

“Maybe there’s something about him that prevents them from doing anything bad to him. Like his personality, or his attitude.”

“You mean his aura?”

“…Something like that.”

“…Whatever it is, it’s not enough to stop the murderer from killing him.”

“Yeah…” Speaking of which, there’s something about it that bothers him: Why was Mr. Bartolome killed? He’s just a comic artist, and as far as Gill is concerned, there’s nothing gained from killing him.

…This sounds too similar to the case that happened last week. A creative artist dying in their own apartment.

“I have a question for you,” Phillip Forms says as he rummages through a small cabinet. “If you are to enter a crime scene and you don’t want to let the police know that you were there, what you would do?”

“Well, first you—” Gill immediately stops himself. “Wait a minute! Even if I tell you, you wouldn’t be able to there. The others will just stop you from climbing to the second floor.”

“…That wouldn’t be a problem for me.” Phillip forms pulls something out of the drawer, it’s a key. A clay key, to be exact. “Do you know what this is?”

“It’s a clay key. One that you can make by dumping a key in a pot of clay and slowly form it until becomes an exact replica of the key. Then, you wait for it to harden. What about it?”

“This is the key to the emergency exit.”

Hearing “emergency exit” clicks something on his head. They were just talking about the possibility of somebody entering through the emergency exit.

“Now, I know that look.” Phillip Forms glares back. “Just because I have something that paints me as a suspect doesn’t mean that I am one.”

“Why do you have one then?”

“Can’t a guy have some security in his life? I only made this clay key just in case something bad happens.”

“I see. But why tell me this? Having something like this won’t paint a good picture of you.”

“That’s exactly why I’m telling you. If I keep hiding this key around and they happened to find it then I’ll immediately become a prime suspect…”

“…And so, you want somebody to stand up for you when that happens.”

“That’s right.” He places the key in his pocket. “Are you coming? You’re supposed to accompany me, remember?”

“You still intend to go, huh?”

“Naturally. I get uncomfortable if I don’t know what’s going on. If at least know the situation, then it will give me enough space to plan on what to do next.”

“Hm.”

“What about you? What’s stopping you from satisfying your curiosity?” Phillip Forms asks.

“…” There’re so many things he wants to say but he doesn’t know where to start.

“Do you think that you wouldn’t be able to do a good job like Luna Verno?”

“…Huh?” What? How does he know about that?

“You look surprised. Guess that means I’ve hit the nail on the head.” Phillip Forms grins. “You’re running away. You feel like something bad would happen if you try to solve this mystery, just because you aren’t as good at it as Luna Verno, and so, you’re just content with waiting out until the police arrives.”

“…” Honestly, he can’t deny that. What’s up with this guy? How is he able to dig deep into a person like that?”

“I’m surprised, though.”

“About what?”

“When I look at you, I thought you’re just a doll who listens and obeys what other people say.”

“So, you don’t think of me as one anymore?”

“Oh, no. I can still see that you’re being dragged around by strings but I can see that there’s some humanity in you.”

“…Thanks?” He’s not sure if what he says is a compliment or an insult.

Phillip Forms. “So, now are you ready to tell me any tricks and tips needed to the crime scene undetected?”

Looks like nothing is going to change his mind. Gill could just run back and tell them what’s on…

_“Trust yourself.”_

If he did something like that then Luna would surely be disappointed in him. And besides, a small part of him wants to prove him wrong…and another part of him wants to know who did this to Mr. Bartolome…even if it means making a mistake along the way.

Does he have the courage to confront that mistake when it happens though? Gill is not sure yet. “First, you need plastic bags.”

“Eh?”

“When you enter the crime scene, make sure that you’re not wearing and footwear. You can wear socks if you want but there’s a chance that you’ll leave smudges, so plastic bags will do. Second, you need a pair of disposable plastic gloves, if you don’t have those, then plastic bags or any sort of gloves will do. They’re for covering your hands so that you won’t leave fingerprints. And lastly, you need a face mask. There’s a good chance that we’ll leave saliva in the crime scene if either talking or breathing, so make sure to bring one too.”

“Uh…sure. I have those.” It takes a while for Phillip Forms to move. But when he does, he brings everything they need: two masks, two pair of gloves, and 4 plastic bags.

“These are good.” Gill checks them to see if they are prone to breaking. If a piece of plastic is left behind then it can easily be traced back to them, he doesn’t want that to happen. “I suggest we start wearing them now. It would seem suspicious if there are fresh footprints outside of the door but not inside.”

Phillip Forms can only nod as follow exactly what Gill said. In no time, the two of them put on the necessary gear.

“Right. Let’s get going.” Gill says as he makes his way to the door.

“Oh? Now you want to investigate? What cause the sudden change?”

“Nothing much. Since that you’re going in there I might as well accompany you. And stop you from getting yourself into trouble.”

“Is that so? Are you doing this because you want to or you know that I’ll harass you until you come with me.”

“…Who knows,” Gill answers honestly. He opens the door and the two make it out of the room. Then they turn left to where the emergency stairs are. They keep walking until they come across a steel bar blocking their way. With it’s only defense being a single lock in front of them.

Just as Phillip Forms reaches for his pocket, Gill stops him.

“Wait a minute. If you’re going to use the clay key then take off your gloves first.”

“There’s a chance that you’ll leave some clay residues on your plastic gloves.”

“Huh, you’re quite picky, aren’t you?” Phillip Forms takes off his gloves and takes the key. In a swift motion, he unlocks the lock.

“You kinda need to be picky when you do this, after all.”

/4

“Now that I think about it, it seems counterproductive to leave the emergency exit locked,” Gill says as he climbs the steel-laden stairs, closely following Phillip Forms behind him. Each loud clank makes him wonder if they’re bolted well enough.

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I made that key.”

They continue their climb until they arrive at the second floor. Phillip Forms unlocks the lock and opens the door. Gill enters first followed by Phillip Forms who locks the lock. “There, now no one would notice that we use the

emergency exit.” He puts the key back to his pocket and make their way to Mr. Bartolome’s room.

“Hey, tell me: What do you think of Mrs. Ceval ‘s plan?” Phillip Forms asks.

Her plan? “Are you talking about what we’re doing now?”

“What else would I be talking about?” He lets out a deadpan sigh.

“Well, I think it’s a solid plan. By having all of us together at the entrance, it prevents the murderer from doing anything reckless. And if anyone wants to go somewhere, they need to have somebody accompanying them, giving them a number advantage whenever the murderer makes their move.” Gill explains.

“Hmph. So, that’s what you think. You believe that his murderer is somebody from the outside?”

“…If I’m being optimistic then yes.”

“And you also believe that our murderer is still here?”

“Normally, I don’t. but going out at this weather is practically suicide,” Gill says.

“I see. For me, I also think that her is solid. But to me, her plan makes it sound like she thinks that one of us is the culprit.” Phillip Forms explains. “Take for instance, having everyone in the same room. It allows her to keep watch over everyone and try to determine who did it, and as for the having another person accompany someone when they’re going somewhere. As far as I concerned, she probably did it so that one of us is the murderer, we wouldn’t do anything risky if somebody’s watching us. Since she always asks us to go back together, it would seem suspicious if one of us went missing.”

“I see where you’re going with this, but it didn’t account for one thing.”

“And what would that be?”

“Let’s say that one of us is the murderer, wouldn’t it be a stretch to say that one of us could be an accomplice?”

“Ah, if that’s the case then her plan to keep an eye any potential suspects would fall apart then, since all the accomplice had to do is raise their hand, and they’re free to do whatever they want.”

“Yeah, but that’s only IF there’s an accomplice, and IF one of us is the murderer.”

“You really do believe that one of us is innocent, huh?”

“You don’t think you guys are?”

“I don’t think anyone in this apartment is innocent,” Phillip Forms wistfully says.

“…” Gill let those words linger in his mind.

It didn’t take long for them to arrive at Mr. Bartolome’s door. Even though the door is closed, Gill can somewhat smell the day leaking from it. Gill places his hand on the door. “Is this your first time seeing a body?” Gill asks.

“Not really. I’ve seen some messed up stuff so I think I can handle it.”

“You sure? Looking at it from up close is different from looking at it on a screen. The nauseating sight of death is something that shouldn’t be underestimated.”

“It wouldn’t be a problem for me,” Phillip Forms says impatiently.

“Alright.” Gill slowly opens the door, letting the horrible smell of decay attack them. The mask does little to lessen its power. He continues though, as he opens the door wide open to take a good look at his surroundings.

“Uph!”

There was a sudden gag. Gill turns around to find Phillip Forms looking like he’s about to puke.

“We don’t need to be in a hurry. Take your time.” Gill tells him.

“No, no, we need to do this now. If we take too long they’ll get suspicious.”

Gill nods as they enter Mr. Bartolome’s room.

“…” Out of all the rooms in The Concrete, he can safely say that Mr. Bartolome’s room… has a lot of things inside it.

The walls of his room are outfitted with numerous posters from famous movies during the late 2010’s, there are rows of figurines based on famous anime and cartoon characters lined up in a black shelf, and there are piles upon piles of draft papers lying on his desk. Other then that, the rest of the things that he has are the same as all of the others.

Gill walks to Mr. Bartolome’s corpse. Even as he processed what happened to him, looking at his blank white eyes, wide open mouth, and his twisted neck still sends shivers down his spine.

“…Should we close his eyes?” Asks Phillip Forms.

“No, we leave it as it is.” Gill gathers his thoughts as they begin their investigation on whether it was somebody from outside, or inside the concrete who murdered Gregor Bartolome.

First things first, Gill turns around and checks at the door, looking for any signs of breakage or lock manipulation. But he doesn’t see anything worth noticing as the doorknob is as clean as a disco ball. “Considering how clean the door is, we can either expect that the murderer unlocked the door, or that Mr. Bartolome left the door open.”

“Mm. Let’s say that Gregor locked the door, how do you expect the culprit to enter this room?”

“I can think of three things,” Gill says. “The culprit may have used a key, a lockpick, or they just knocked on the door.”

“Knocking? Seriously?”

“It’s possible. If you don’t say anything and just knock on the door then someone would eventually relent and opens it, considering that we don’t have a peephole.”

“Mm. I can imagine somebody using a lockpick but a key?”

“Why not? It’s possible that the culprit may have stolen a key from either Maria or Mrs. Ceval.”

“Well, they weren’t making a big deal out of it when we were at the lobby so the key may have not been stolen,” Phillip Forms says.

“There’s still his personal key and his spare key.” Gill counters.

“Does Gregor have a spare key?”

“I don’t know.” Maybe he’ll have to ask Mrs. Ceval about that.

“Then that only leaves his personal key. If we can find it then leaves out one option.”

“I don’t think so. There’s the possibility that the culprit may have left the key in this room when he’s done using to hide any evidence,” Gill says.

Phillip Forms lets out a huff.

Gill turns his attention to the window, the most likely entrance that someone would use if they’re intruding. At least…if this was any other place. But this is The Concrete where, their windows have bars on them to prevent somebody “falling” from their room. How did something like that happen is still a mystery. And it’s not the kind that he wants to solve though.

He places his hands on the bars and gives it a good pull.

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

…They don’t budge.

“Any luck with the windows?” Phillip Forms asks.

“Nope. They’re very stable. That means that the culprit couldn’t have used it to enter through this room.”

“I mean, obviously, have you seen what it’s like outside the window? Who could be able to climb something like that?”

Gill looks down from the window. While he can’t see the bottom due to the heavy rain, it looks like the ground has piles upon piles to trash below. Looking from the walls below the window, and he doesn’t find anything would help somebody climb up here…which probably means that somebody didn’t climb up here too.

“No luck, huh?”

“Yup.”

“So, it means the culprit did use the door to enter here.”

“Most likely, yes. Unless this room has a secret passage but I don’t see anything like that here.” Well, enough of that. Even if he has checked other forms of entry, he’s not yet done. Next, he checks on the bathroom. He opens the door and examines inside.

“…”

There’s nothing substantial he can find here. The bathroom is clean, Gill doesn’t smell anything metallic nor is there anything that can indicate that it used for something.

Next…

Gill walks to the closet and opens it.

“…” Just like before, there’s nothing here that indicates that this place was tampered in any way. The clothes in the closet are neatly arranged with no signs of tear whatsoever.

“Looking at it from up close, our closets are a bit big.”

“Yeah…”

“I bet somebody could fit inside this closet if they try hard enough.”

“Possibly.” Gill places his hand on the closet and tries to fit himself inside.

…He’s too big. The closet is big, but not big enough to accommodate a grown person. Perhaps if a smaller person were to climb inside the closet then it would work but he can’t imagine anybody here in The Concrete would be able to fit in there.

“…Right.” Only one more place to check. Gill takes a deep breath as he walks to Mr. Bartolome’s corpse. The smell of decay continues to invade his nose. He wants to get this done as soon as possible.

“What are you trying to find?” Phillip Forms asks.

“…Just trying to figure out what caused his neck to be twisted like this.”

“…I see what you mean. I thought you were exaggerating when you said that his head was like that. But it’s just to surreal.”

“Yeah. Could a person be able to do this? You said that trained soldiers can pull off something things like that.”

“I did, but…I don’t know. I have a feeling that this wasn’t done by a person.”

“While I like to think so too, this is definitely the work of an actual living person.” He doesn’t know who did it, but he can tell that whoever did this has a very strong reason to murder Mr. Bartolome…it almost makes want to catch the culprit just so he can ask them what they’re reason could be.

“…Anyway, let’s review everything we’ve seen so far,” Gill starts. “First, let’s talk about how the culprit may have entered this room.”

“That’s easy, they went through the door.”

Gill nods. “So far, that’s the only way that somebody could get here. But that opens up a few issues.”

“You mean, like, if the culprit came from outside, how can they enter apartment?”

“Yeah…”

“The Concrete doesn’t have a back door, the culprit can’t enter through the windows, and the only way you can access the emergency exit is through the lobby, which you can only enter through the front door.”

“Then…” That means…

“That means that whoever went in this room to murder Gregor is somebody from inside The Concrete.”

“Hold on, we can’t just assume that!” Gill tries to stop him before he goes into that train of thought.

“I mean, what proof do you have that somebody from the outside did this? I can’t find anything wet around here.”

“Wet? What are you talking about?”

Phillip Forms looks at him with surprise. “You haven’t noticed? Honestly, I’m kind of disappointed.” He sighs. “Well, let me say this: When do you think our intruder arrived at The Concrete?”

“Hm.” If he has to guess…then the best time the intruder would come here be… “I think it would be around the evening.”

“Yes. That’s the most logical guess. But what has been going on throughout the whole evening?”

Ah… “It has been raining,” Gill says.

“Yup. Never mind the fact that it’s suicidal going out at this weather but you would think that if somebody came here while it’s raining they would leave some sort of evidence?”

“…!” Gill smacks his own head with his fist.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Nothing. I’m just surprised how I didn’t notice it.” If the culprit DID came here when it was raining then there should’ve been a noticeable trail of water…from pretty much anywhere. But throughout their whole investigation they never come across something like that.

Not from the windows.

Not from the door.

Not even from the hallway.

Even if the culprit tried to clean up their tracks, they wouldn’t be able to get rid of everything. There would still be something. But.

“There was nothing like that,” Phillip Forms says. “There was no sign that somebody came here dripping wet from the outside.”

“We can’t say for sure!” There has to be something that they are missing. “Maybe the culprit was wearing a raincoat and takes it off when they were inside. They might’ve thrown it outside the apartment.”

“Huh?” He puts his finger on his chin. “While that makes sense. We still don’t know how the culprit could’ve gotten inside, though.”

“…I’m still working on it.”

“And how long would that be? Sooner or later, we have to accept that one of us might’ve been the one who killed Gregor.”

Is that really it? Is there no other alternative? Is there actually somebody in this apartment who is willing to kill somebody? Even to someone who is essentially their neighbor?

Gill sighs. No…he doesn’t believe that. There has to be something here that will turn the narrative, but there’s still little to go off from.

…A little from here but not from there. Ah… he still haven’t had the chance to ask them, huh? Maybe now is the perfect time to do it. “Right… I think we’re done here.”

“Oh? So, do you agree that it was somebody from inside The Concrete who did this?”

“No. I still think it was somebody from the outside who did this,” Gill stubbornly says.

Phillip Forms shrugs. “If you insist. This place already confirms my suspicions. So, let’s head back before anyone gets suspicious.”

Gill nods as he opens the door…

“…”

“…”

“…”

“So, you two where here all this time?” Helen Skelter gives an accusing glare.

Ah… they are spotted. But, since it’s Nina they might be able to hide this…

To his right, there’s John giving him an odd stare…ah.

They’re screwed.

“You two have a lot of explaining to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Now, after this, I'll be taking a small hiatus as I'll try to fix and review future chapters. Hopefully, please be patient when they're ready.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter of my first series. if there's anything you want to say, feel free to leave a reply. And if you find this interesting, please share this to anybody who might like this.
> 
> Expect more chapters in the future.


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